A busy public square in the Chinese city of Nanjing is home to an unusual experiment. For almost two months, the country's first "honesty bookshop" has occupied  a sidewalk on HanZhong Road in the city's Gulou District. With no cashier or other staff, the store relies on trust for payment. Making money isn't the company's main goal and they don't punish those who take books without paying. "If they can really finish the books, it doesn't matter if they took the books for free," Zhu Yu, the marketing director of the company says. "In fact, we are really happy to witness so many people taking books from the honesty bookshop." After browsing the four wooden bookshelves, customers must drop their money in a locked box. Prices are set at 30% of the usual cover price. Zhu hopes that his sidewalk store, which sells, on average, 60 books a day, will make more people interested in reading. Like elsewhere, e-books are affecting sales of traditional books, and traditional books and many independent booksellers are struggling. Zhu got permission from the city government to use the sidewalk and says he's determined to make it a long-term project. He says the store is open every day, except when it rains, and it's locked up each night. In September last year, the company laid out 1,000 books and reading lamps on the ground and encouraged people "to go on a date" with a book. "Independent bookshops represent the well-being of the city." Zhu told CNN in 2013, "when a city is losing its bookshops, it's actually losing something in its soul." If the success of the Honesty Bookstore is any guide, Nanjing's soul is in pretty good shape. What is one of the purposes of opening the bookstore?
To encourage people to read. To make customers honest. To check whether customers are honest. To help people learn about Nanjing.