Shared umbrellas hit Haizhu district

Some 1,000 more umbrellas popped up around Guangzhou's Haizhu district, South China's Guangdong province, on July 6, helping out the people who were stranded in the rain.

Similar to shared bikes, users can unlock an umbrella by scanning a QR code on the umbrella and by following the bank's WeChat account, ccbjycf. Users need to pay a deposit of 40-50 yuan ($5.88-$7.35) to use the umbrellas at a cost of 0.2 yuan a day.

Borrowers can get their deposit back as long as they return the shared umbrellas within seven days.

The pilot public welfare program is co-sponsored by China Construction Bank (Guangdong branch) and Yuexiu district Committee of the Communist Youth League of China.

At present, the umbrellas have already been placed at 34 BBC's branches and seven volunteer service stations in Haizhu district, according to Zhang Yaguang, director of Institute of Advanced Technology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School.

But, others have expressed concern over the management. In early June, a total of 50,000 iridescent e-umbrellas were tied up to the pedestrian guard rails in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, which caused a sensation among media outlets.

However, all of those shared rain-proofs disappeared in one day, with some taken away by officers of urban management.

"Our shared umbrellas adopt person-to-person form of transference," Zhang explained. "Users can easily find the closest umbrella by searching via WeChat and direct lend an occupied one by scanning the QR on it."

It will enhance the ease of lending and also facilitate the user to return the umbrellas, Zhang added.

"The project helps encourage more social forces to get involved in handy services for the public and benefit more Guangzhou residents," said Yang Yuhao, an official at Yuexiu district Committee of the Communist Youth League of China.

Squads of iridescent umbrellas are hung up on the pedestrian guard rails in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/china.com.cn]