University students walk off the pounds while saving on canteen meals

Students at Zhejiang Gongshang University in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, have been walking extra hard recently to earn discounts at the school canteen.

One of the school canteens has launched a special campaign from March 5 to April 10 to encourage students to exercise more, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Wednesday.

Students who walk more than 10,000 steps per day can get a 10 percent discount at the canteen; those who have walked between 10,000 and 20,000 get a 15 percent discount and students walking more than 40,000 steps can enjoy a 45 percent discount.

Zhang Liqin, the canteen manager, told the newspaper that many students gained weight during winter vacation and the campaign aims to encourage them to exercise more and stay healthy.

The campus is quite large and students usually walk about 10,000 steps per day just on their daily commute, so it is not hard for them to enjoy a 15 percent discount, Zhang was quoted as saying.

"Every day, we have a couple of students who can enjoy the maximum 45 percent discount; the highest record is more than 50,000 steps per day," Zhang said.