Love's umbrellas lost A woman takes an umbrella at the Century Avenue metro station in Shanghai. The umbrellas are available to commut...

Love's umbrellas lost

A woman takes an umbrella at the Century Avenue metro station in Shanghai. The umbrellas are available to commuters free of charge on rainy days. Dong Jun / for China Daily

Less than half of the free umbrellas taken by commuters on rainy days as part of a Shanghai Metro project have been returned, according to the city's transport agency.

Passengers have been able to borrow the "Umbrellas for Love" since 2008, with all 280 stations initially issued with a stock of 100.

However, as the city is enduring daily deluges, staff at some stations say their stocks have run dry.

At South Huangpi Road Station on Monday, a sign stated that all umbrellas had been loaned out. A passing service center worker said: "Nobody gives them back."

An employee at Lujiabang Road station gave the same answer, saying they were waiting for a new batch to arrive.

"Due to public demand and the high rate at which the umbrellas disappear, we have had to distribute extra batches at least three times over the past few years," said Fan Wenjun, a media officer at Shanghai Metro operation management center.

Data provided by the center showed that of the 88,000 umbrellas allocated to stations, less than half are still in circulation. The return rate was 47.5 percent for the entire metro network in February.

Passengers can borrow an umbrella after writing down their name and phone number at the service center. Usually passengers will be reminded to return the umbrellas within a week to where they were borrowed. Each umbrella is numbered and belongs to a specific station.

"But we don't require passengers to show their IDs or verify their contact information. These umbrellas are loaned out of love. We hope people can cooperate with us," said a subway worker at Lujiabang Road Station.

A metro employee surnamed Fan at People's Square Station, the busiest in the city, estimated that at least half of passengers give false information, which they discover when they call to remind them to return the umbrella.

China Daily talked to eight Shanghai residents. All said they would return the umbrellas.

"The large Shanghai Metro logos and the slogan 'Umbrellas for Love' which is emblazoned on them, makes it obvious that they may have been stolen," said Wang Qi, a 53-year-old housewife. "People would have to have some nerve to hold on to them in streets."

However, two of the people interviewed said they would refuse to give their real information.

"I'm not worried about them contacting me to get the umbrella back, I'm afraid that I'll be bothered by junk messages after advertisers get my phone number," said Zhou Shuwen, a 25-year-old office worker.

Passengers who give false information or do not return the umbrellas are not necessarily acting immorally, according to some sociologists.

Apart from those who intend to keep the umbrellas, there may be many reasons people do not return them, said Zhang Youqin, a professor of sociology at Xiamen University.

The passenger might be on a business trip in Shanghai and rush to catch a flight, Zhang said. "He didn't give it back, but he felt grateful, and maybe embarrassed."

However, she thought that if other provinces and cities followed the practice, an honor system would evolve among them.

Hu Shoujun, a sociology professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, suggested a deposit to deter those who want to keep the umbrellas.

This is what Guangzhou has done at seven of its subway stations since 2008, seeking a 20-yuan ($3) cash deposit, almost equal to the cost of an umbrella.

Hu said this was a smarter practice and a necessary one in the long term.

"Circulation of the umbrellas can only be achieved with a high return rate," he said.

Wang Xinwei and Wang Danfei contributed to this story.