In the city of Baotou, in Inner Mongolia autonomous region, as is the case in other cities, walking and jogging have become a hot topic on networking sites, thanks to the growth of the mobile Internet and, as a result, competitive walking has become a kind of cult among fitness-conscious people.

One thing that is driving this is APPs that allow walkers and joggers to show the number of steps they take each day so they can make daily ranking lists to compare with their families and friends to see who's been most active. In addition, some people think it's a great idea to share this good habit and keep fit together with others.

WeChat shows the ranking of competitive walking. [Photo provided to China Daily]

One example is Gao Jinyan, who works in a State-owned company in Baotou and has been walking for several months now. She checks her performance everyday, as she says, "It is good for self-discipline and motivates me to stick to a healthy lifestyle and I've lost 9 kilo since I took up the habit."

And there are APPs that help joggers calculate their distance, speed and even calories they burn, or they can find routes with the help of GPS.

Other people have another reason to pick up walking – charity, as some APPs are calling for people to donate a certain amount of "steps" to an organization that sends foods to poor children.

In this case, 15,000 steps is "equal" to, say, an egg and a bottle of milk and in the words of one Baotou resident, who says cheerfully, "It's great that I can exercise to keep fit and send my love to people in need of help at the same time."