--- title: Runners' Inspiration: Students in China Are Running for the Money description: In China people are hiring running partners to provide them with motivation and encouragement while they exercise. canonical: https://time.com/3512918/china-exercise-running-partner/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-16T15:35:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:10.231Z og:title: The Unusual Way Students in China Can Earn Extra Cash og:description: In China people are hiring running partners to provide them with motivation and encouragement while they exercise. og:url: https://time.com/3512918/china-exercise-running-partner/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb33a4954e1c69550/698a0dfb01168272d697f5f4/china-running-partner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: china-running-partner og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Unusual Way Students in China Can Earn Extra Cash twitter:description: In China people are hiring running partners to provide them with motivation and encouragement while they exercise. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb33a4954e1c69550/698a0dfb01168272d697f5f4/china-running-partner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Unusual Way Students in China Can Earn Extra Cash > Sponsored content. 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Chen Li, one of the running partners, told the Global Times that some people hire him for safety reasons at night, but others just need help shedding a few pounds. “Mr. Zhang was my first client and he hoped someone could push him to exercise because he is getting fat from long office hours,” Li said. Running partners reportedly make up to 3,000 yuan ($490) a month from the gig. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3512918/china-exercise-running-partner/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3512918/china-exercise-running-partner/"},"headline":"The Unusual Way Students in China Can Earn Extra Cash","datePublished":"2014-10-16T15:35:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:10.231Z","description":"A run for the money","url":"https://time.com/3512918/china-exercise-running-partner/","keywords":["Living","Exercise","China","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb33a4954e1c69550/698a0dfb01168272d697f5f4/china-running-partner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb33a4954e1c69550/698a0dfb01168272d697f5f4/china-running-partner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"china-running-partner","caption":"","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3512918/china-exercise-running-partner/","name":"The Unusual Way Students in China Can Earn Extra Cash"}}]}] ```