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Communist Party Officials Sacked For Selling School In China Two Communist Party officials in western China have been sacked for selling off their village's only primary school. The officials from Zhijin County in Guizhou Province, sold the school for around US$5,000, forcing children in the village to walk 3 kilometres to the nearest alternative school. The county's education authority had to pay almost twice as much to buy the school back for the village. South China Morning Post - August 2003 Shanghai School Cajoles Students To Act Mentally Handicapped A middle school in Shanghai bribed 20 low-academic standing pupils to pose as mentally disabled to prevent the school's ranking from falling, a news report said Wednesday. The students were told by a teacher they would be guaranteed graduation certificates without having to take final exams, if they went to hospital and were diagnosed as mentally challenged. As an added incentive, the students were also told by the school they would get a RMB300 (US$36) subsidy for mentally disabled people, the newspaper said. The school attempted the ruse to ensure there no low final exam scores in its overall results. Mentally challenged students are exempted from formal exams. China Daily- July 2003 Cosmetic Surgery Is Teenagers' Reward For Passing Exams
Chinese teenagers are being given cosmetic surgery by their parents as a reward for their hard work in school. Three hospitals in Guangzhou reported that 90% of their plastic surgery patients were middle school graduates. Parents are paying for the surgery to reward children for passing university entrance exams. Doctors say the girls generally favoured nose-jobs or work around their eyes, while most of the boys wanted liposuction.
Information Times - June 2003 China Student Faints As Text Message Gives Wrong Exam Score A high-flying student in southern China fainted with shock when a text message on his mobile phone mistakenly gave him a low grade in his college entrance exams. The boy's father is now threatening to sue the Short Message Service (SMS) operator after it sent a message to his son telling him he scored 391 points on his exam when he in fact scored 656. The father claims his son, from Guangzhou, had refused to talk and seemed like a different person after receiving the bogus information. The father purchased the exam result service for his son. Guangzhou's consumer complaints centre has had five similar complaints, according to the newspaper. SMS messaging is hugely popular in the wealthy Chinese province which neighbours Hong Kong. China Daily - July 2003 Pupils Fined for Breaking Wind Under new hygiene rules a primary school in Pinggu District, Beijing, now fines students RMB5 each time they break wind. The rule was instituted as part of measures to improve hygiene. Xinhua - July 2003 Boy, 14, Drives Dad's Car For 600 Miles A 14-year-old Chinese schoolboy drove his father's car for more than 600 miles because he was sick of school. When police finally caught up with Jin, he told officers he had learned to drive from video arcade games. He left home in Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, with ?,300 of his father's money. Jin travelled through Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, and finally Wenzhou, where he was arrested. People's Daily - April 2003 School Proves Good for the Soul Infants at a school in Bush Hill Park are kick starting the school day with Chinese exercises to focus the mind. Pupils aged four to seven at Raglan Infants School meet in the school playground for ten minutes each morning to complete a series of bilateral movements. The school introduced the exercises after two of its teachers visited China, to investigate alternative approaches to teaching.
Enfield Advertiser (UK) - July 2003
Teacher Fired for Making Students Slap Each Other in China A primary school teacher in western China has been fired after getting students who failed a math test to slap each other. One girl was slapped more than 100 times by her classmates and teacher during the incident in the school in Pucheng county, Shaanxi province. Teacher Zho Huili was fired from the school after complaints about the slapping but the matter was not taken up by police. South China Morning Post -February 2004
Thrill-Seeking Woman Bitten By Tigers In China Safari Park A thrill-seeking woman in her 20s was bitten by tigers when she jumped out of a train in a safari park in China and ran into an enclosure of more than 20 of the big cats. Safari park staff in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, had to drive a jeep at the animals to scare them away after they pounced on the woman from Beijing who ignored pleas from other visitors and walked towards the tigers. She suffered only slight injuries to her shoulder and legs and afterwards said she went into the enclosure "for a thrill", according to the Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - August 2003 Lake Monsters Sighted In China's Tianchi Lake Unidentified animals as mysterious as Scotland's Loch Ness monster were reportedly sighted in Tianchi Lake earlier this month in northeast China's Jilin Province. During a period of about 50 minutes, witnesses saw the animals five times. Sometimes 20 appeared at one time and sometimes there was only one or two of them. Zhang Lufeng, deputy director of the provincial forestry department, was visiting the lake on July 11 with seven other people when they spotted something unusual moving on the surface of the water. But because they were too far away, they could only see white or black spots, according to Zhang. They took some photos but the spots were blurred because of the distance. More than 10 other people have also alleged that they saw the animals this month. There have been reports of monsters in the lake since the beginning of last century, although no one has ever seen one up close. The Shanhaijing, a collection of fairy tales, contains many accounts of turtle-shaped animals with pig's heads and black skin, which are quite similar to reported monsters in the lake. Scientists, however, hold that the low-temperature lake is not likely to have living creatures. The cultural research association of the Changbai Mountains, where the lake is located, is collecting information on the creatures and promised to reward those who take clear photos of them. Xinhua - July 2003 Police Collar Monkey For Stealing Mobile Phone In China Zoo Hong Kong Police were called to help catch a troublesome monkey who snatched a mobile phone from a visitor to a zoo in eastern China. Zookeepers were unable to retrieve the phone from the primate in Jinan zoo, Shandong province, and had to call police to help them to get it back. South China Morning Post - October 2003 Polar Bears Spotted In Tibet It is high season for spotting strange animals in China, and polar bears have now allegedly been observed in Tibet, where the species has never ventured before. The sightings, reported in several remote counties of the Himalayan region, could be of great significance to the study of the evolution of species in Tibet, experts told the Xinhua news agency. Puce, an old herdsman, said he was looking after his sheep when he suddenly saw a white creature in the distance and initially thought it was a snow leopard. "After careful study, I found it was a big white bear quite identical to the polar bears we have seen in the films." At least one scientist doubts the biology books will have to be rewritten, telling Xinhua that what the herdsman and others have seen is probably a kind of albino bear. The reports come after several sightings last month of China's "Nessie" -- a monster with a scaled back, a black head and 10-centimeter-long (four-inch-long) horns -- in a deep volcanic lake in the country's northeast. AFP - August 2003 ?/P> 11 Cockroaches Found In Dish Of Spare Ribs ?/P> An investigation has been launched after 11 cockroaches were found in a bowl of spare ribs served at a restaurant in China. The cockroaches were discovered by a table of customers as they tucked into the ribs at a popular restaurant in Guangzhou. The customers reported the incident but did not ask for compensation as they felt the discovery had no impact on their general health. ?/P> Guangzhou Daily - July 2003 ?/P> 600 Scorpions Terrify Train Passengers ?/P> Train passengers in southern China screamed in terror when more than 600 scorpions escaped from a cardboard box. A passenger violated railway regulations by taking the scorpions onto the train from Guangzhou to Chongqing. The scorpions climbed out of the box when the train arrived in Zhaoqing, frightening everyone in the carriage. It took more than 30 minutes for the railway police, crew members and some passengers to catch them all. The passenger with the scorpions had bought them from a scorpion farm after reading that raising scorpions was a profitable industry. He was taking them back to his home town of Sichuan to set up his own farm, the newspaper said. ?/P> Guangzhou Daily - June 2003 Skewed Gender Ratio Leaves Chinese Zoo Birds Severely Undersexed A skewed gender ratio is leaving dozens of female hornbills at a south Chinese zoo severely undersexed. Among the 110 hornbills at the Nanning City Zoo in the Guangxi Zhuang region, only one third are male, meaning many of their female counterparts have to live long single lives. The chief reason of the malady is that male hornbills are destined by their DNA to keep their beaks faithfully to the path of monogamy and refuse to have more than one partner. Zoo keepers are scratching their heads for a solution, but there seems to be none in sight. They cannot just go out into the woods and catch more males for the zoo's lovesick ladies, because the hornbills are a protected species under Chinese law, ?/P> AFP from Xinhua - August 2003 Woman Sued For Naming Pet Dog After Neighbour A woman has been brought to court for naming her dog after her neighbour, and loudly abusing it in public. The dog-owner, surnamed Fang, called her pet dog Liu Ling ?also the name of a neighbour whom she dislikes. The court heard that she would often scream out to her dog sentences such as: "Liu Ling, you are so stupid!" Ms Liu has asked for an apology and RMB 1,000. ?/P> Chongqing Morning Post - June 2003 Dead Cats in Shanghai A 75-year-old woman is filing a lawsuit against her neighbourhood committee for "violating her property rights" by killing her cat during the SARS outbreak. On March 19th, 10 members of the committee forcibly entered Jin Yingdi’s house and beat her cat to death. ?/P> Shanghai Daily News - July 2003 Owner Finds Cat To Dye For A Pet lover in southern China paid RMB500 for a Persian cat only to find its colour came out in the wash. The cat was exposed as an ordinary grey cat worth no more than RMB50 when the new owner washed it and found the coffee-coloured coat was just dye. The salesman at a Guangzhou market had told the buyer the cat was actually worth more than RMB800 but said he was selling it at a reduced price because he was moving abroad. Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - July 2003 Two Pug Dogs Tie The Knot In Taiwan - Formally Hei Bao and his bride Do Do are two pug dogs whose joining was well televised in Taiwan. Wearing a red bow tie over his shiny black coat, Hei Bao was accompanied by his litter master to the home of Do Do, a pure bred, in the northern county of Miaoli. Firecrackers were lit when the groom’s white Mercedes limousine stopped in front of the home of the shy Do Do, who had a glistening wedding ring around her neck. The two gave each other a lover's look before shifting their attention to a pile of wedding gifts - canned beef and dog food. But love apparently overpowered their attention and the two started sniffing each other while their all-smiling owners happily announced the beginning of the wedding ceremony. The formal Taiwanese-style wedding was aired on local television and friends of the owners gave the couple their blessings. Hei Bao's owner said he had been looking for a mate for his six-year-old pet for three years, and saw Do Do on June 2 strolling near a light pole, eventually leading to the ceremony. Dpa International Services In English - June 2003 Poor Ass In a crowded street in downtown Xi’an a disgruntled consumer aired her grievances last month by harnessing her broken down minibus to the back of a donkey and parading it through town. After buying the minibus for RMB65,000 she then had to pay out more than RMB10,000 and take it back for repairs more than 50 times in one year. The bus still wouldn’t start so the irate woman painted the characters “poor donkey?on the front of her bus and took to the streets with the help of a trustier vehicle.Shanghai Talk - September 2003 'Heaviest' Pig ?o:p> A farmer from Liaoning Province claims one of his pigs, which recently died, was the heaviest of its kind in the whole country. And he wants the Guinness Book of World Records to make note of it. The animal weighed 900 kilograms at death and was 2.5 metres long, with a waistline of 2.23 meters. The farmer Xu Changjin of Wafangdian City, said he kept his pig in a nice sty and fed it quality fodder all its life. Pigs are not pets in Chinas and rarely kept for more than three years before they are slaughtered for the dinner table. ?o:p> Shanghai Daily 24/2/04 ?/P> Multi-Coloured Monkeys Not Amused by Makeover?o:p> Monkeys at the Forest Safari Park in Shenyang have had their fur died different colours of the rainbow to celebrate the Year of the Monkey. Park workers said the monkeys had to be anaesthetised first because many of them resisted the makeover. Some of the monkeys remained quite and out of sorts days later clearly unimpressed by their new look. ?o:p> Xinhua - February 2004 ?/P> Bear has Cataract Surgery to Perform Better?o:p> A bear at a safari park in Haikou had cataract surgery to perform better. The two year old “Princess?had almost gone blind in both eyes because of the cataracts; and she frequently made mistakes in her shows. She had a one-hour surgery on her left eye but her right eye cannot be operated upon because of an external injury. ?o:p> Hainan Daily March 2004 ?/P> ?o:p> Chinese vets have begun showing American-born panda Hua Mei sex-education videos featuring pandas mating to prepare her for "blind dates" with Chinese suitors. The four-year-old animal, whose name means "China-America," arrived in China rom San Diego in February. Now that her month of quarantine is ?/SPAN>complete, officials are hoping she will quickly mate with a panda at her new home, the Wolong Giant Panda Protection Research Centre in southwestern China. "We hope she can get pregnant by the end of March. But first of all, she should have some sexual education," said Wei Rongping, assistant director of the research centre. Because Hua Mei has been in captivity since she was born, she has not had the chance to observe the natural course of panda reproduction in the wild. So officials have shown her videos of mating pandas and taken her to see other pandas copulating. Hua Mei has been assigned four prospective mates, including 15-year-old Zhuang Zhuang, 11-year-old Xi Meng, 12-year-old Da Di and 10-year-old Di Di. "I do not know which of them will be lucky enough to mate our princess," Wei said. "It's all up to Hua Mei to find her own Mr. Right." ?o:p> Xinhua - March 2004 ?/P> ?/P> A man has bitten a dog to death in eastern China after it attacked him as he walked home with friends after a night out. The man, who was drunk, pounced on the dog when it nipped him on the fingers and cheek in Shanghai. He repeatedly bit it until it died, according to the . ?o:p> South China Morning Post - April 2004 ?/P> 'War of the species' in east China as bamboo farmers clash with monkeys ?o:p> Bamboo farmers in east China's Anhui province are mobilizing against armies of rhesus monkeys, who attack their fields in a veritable "war of the species". The conflict has broken out in Jing county, where rural families living on some of China's most suitable soil for bamboo have seen unusually fierce assaults from roving bands of monkeys this spring. The problem for the farmers is that they cannot kill the monkeys, as the government has launched a campaign to protect the rhesus species, now considered "nearly endangered" after decades of hunting. Instead, they have hired laborers whose only task is to drive the monkeys off the fields by peaceful means, an onerous task as they sometimes come in groups of 200 to 300. ?o:p> Xinhua - May 2004 ?/P> Villagers scare away rare monkeys ?o:p> To protect more than 4,670 hectares of bamboo shoots, farmers from Caicun Town in Jiangsu Province have been fighting with local macaques ?a short-tailed monkey. About two or three hundred macaques bite and destroy the bamboo shoots every day. The villagers have had to hire dozens of people to drive the monkeys away. Each worker receives RMB18n (US$2.17) per day. ?o:p> China Daily - May 2004 ?/P> ?o:p> Nanjing's Hongshan Zoo has decided to control its peacock population since it is growing too quickly. Blue peacocks, which mainly inhabit India and Southwest China, used to be a very valuable breed because of their small population. From 1956 till 1990, only 10 blue peacocks were born at the zoo. As the facilities and technology improved, the reproduction rate soared in the past decade. In 1999 alone, over 200 blue peacocks were born at the zoo. At one point, the zoo had over 500 blue peacocks, more than it could handle. The zoo decided to control reproduction to provide the birds with better living standards. ?o:p> Yangtze Evening News - May 2004
Couple Marry And Divorce On The Same Day In Beijing A couple in Beijing got married and then got divorced on the same day in Beijing. The couple, who had been living together for more than 20 years but never got formally married, carried out the bizarre tying and untying of the knot when they decided they wanted to separate. As they had never married, they first got married in the civil administration department of Dongcheng District, then returned later to get a divorce. The process only became possible on October 1 when new regulations on marriage registration came into effect which make it possible to marry and divorce on the same day. Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - October 2003 Motorbike Romeo Rides 2,000 Kms Across China To Woo His Bride A motorbike Romeo rode 2,000 kilometres across China trailing a banner pronouncing his love for his fianc?before collecting her for their wedding. The suitor rode for 10 days from Liaoning province in north west China, bordering North Korea, on an old motorbike before surprising his fiancee in Chongqing, central China. The bride-to-be was so stunned by his devotion she was unable to speak for several hours after he arrived, the newspaper said. The Romeo now plans to put his fiancee on the back of his bike and ride home with her to Liaoning. South China Morning Post - October 2003 Four Out Of 10 Suspicious Hong Kong Fathers Proved Right By DNA Tests Four of 10 Hong Kong men who paid for DNA tests to find out if their children were really theirs had their worst suspicions confirmed. The study quoted by the found 30 out of 75 cases taken to DNA testing laboratories came back with the conclusion that the father was not the biological parent. A researcher involved in the study said the results indicated that there might be "a large population of children in Hong Kong whose parentage is in doubt". DNA testing can now be carried out using just cheek swabs from both parents and the child, making it easier for suspicious fathers to have the tests discreetly carried out Chinese Medical Journal - July 2003 Husband In China Divorces Wife Who Dreams Of Snakes A husband is filing for divorce in western China on the grounds that his wife keeps dreaming about snakes. The man, from Sichuan province, told a divorce court that a dream interpreter informed him that a snake represents a lover, meaning his wife had been unfaithful to him. The divorce court had not yet decided whether to accept the husband's application for a divorce. South China Morning Post - July 2003 Quarrelling Couple In China Go Five Years Without Speaking To Each Other A quarrelling couple in eastern China have reportedly struck a truce and lived together in harmony for the past five years - by not speaking to each other. The couple from Leiqing, Zhenjiang province, still sleep in the same bed but have not exchanged a word and have refused to acknowledge each other's existence since 1998. The couple used to quarrel ferociously before agreeing on the truce and ignoring each other. South China Morning Post - July 2003. Couple Married 83 Years Stakes World's Longest Marriage Claim A 104-year-old man and his 100-year-old wife in southern China claim they have one of the world's longest marriages after celebrating their 83rd wedding anniversary. The couple are considering applying to the Guinness Book of World Records to have their marriage recorded as the world's longest. Huang Fu and his wife Gan, from a village in Guangzhou, married when he was 21 and she was 17. The couple have six sons, four still living, and live with four generations of their family who make up 60 residents - or a third of the population of Shanhu Village, Chini Town - where they live. They may, however, have to stay married for a few years more before they can claim the title, however. Another couple only last November successfully recorded the world's longest marriage with Guinness after marking 85 years of matrimony. Liu Yung-yang, 103, and his wife Yang Wan, 102, from Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, married in April 1917. Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - July 2003 ?P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Prostitute Becomes Serial Bride ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">An elderly man who attended a distant relative's wedding was shocked to find the bride was his own son's fiancee. The bride accepted wedding gifts worth ?,000 - but the next day she was nowhere to be found. The man reported the incident to the police who discovered the woman, Ms Wu, was actually a prostitute. The newspaper says she had come to the conclusion it was more lucrative to line up men to marry and then skip town with the wedding gifts. ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Jianghuai Morning Post - April 2003 Baby Boy Named After Saddam And SARS A Chinese couple have named their newborn son after both Saddam Hussein and the Sars virus. The Wuhan couple have named him Saddam Deng Sars. The father of the child, who is called Deng, said his son was born on the day that war in Iraq broke out. And, by the time they had brought him home, the Sars virus was on everyone's mind. At a party to celebrate the birth, at a local hotel, the couple hung a large banner proudly welcoming Saddam Deng Sars to the world. But they are unsure if officials will allow them to register the name, so they are considering an alternative for the official records. Wuhan Morning Post - May 2003 Teashop Owner Used Lonely Heart Ads To Boost Trade A struggling teashop owner in China lured customers by placing lonely heart advertisements seeking a lover and then fixing the rendezvous in her cafe. She would then meet suitors in her tea shop in Haidian and order the most expensive dishes on the menu before making her excuses and leaving. The woman was arrested after ordering kitchen staff to beat up one suitor who asked for a discount from his bill. She and her staff were arrested for extortion, the newspaper said. South China Morning Post - April 2003 Judge Buys Bowl For 15p To End Row Between Squabbling Couple A Chinese judge bought a bowl from a divorcing couple for 15p because he was sick of their squabbling. Judge Chen, of the Qinshan District People's Court, told Zhang Wei and his wife to share their possessions. But they couldn't agree who should keep the last of their 53 bowls so the judge agreed to buy it. The couple, who live in Wuhan, Hubei Province, had been arguing over their goods since February and had declared that an "equal split was impossible". The couple had each taken 26 of the 53 bowls but could not agree who should get the last one. Judge Chen bought the bowl for two yuan, the equivalent of 15p, and told them to share the money. Wuhan Morning Post - March 2003 Sacked Worker's Love Letter Posted On Factory Gates In China A migrant worker in eastern China was sacked when he was caught writing a love letter at work and had his letter pinned up on the factory gates for everyone to read, a news report said Wednesday. Yu Hui, from Fujian, was caught writing a love letter to a former female colleague after his shift had finished at a leather factory in Wenzhou, Zhejiang. His manager fired him and posted his love letter up on the factory gates beneath the notice announcing his dismissal. Yu is threatening to sue the company for breaching his privacy. Wenzhou Daily - July 2003 ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">91-Year-Old Hires Matchmaker ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Sichuan - A wealthy 91-year-old man in Chengdu has hired the services of a matchmaking agency to help him find a wife. The man is said to be in good health, although hard of hearing. He is looking for a woman under 70 who is of high moral standing. ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Chengdu Evening News - July 2003 Wife Divorces Husband In China Over His "Thunderous" Snores A woman in Shenyang, China, has divorced her husband because she can no longer bear his "thunderous" snores, a news report said Thursday. Luo Hong, 29, had to sleep at her sister's home on her wedding night because groom Zhu Guijiang's snoring was so loud. The couple stayed together and had a baby girl last May but Luo could no longer stand her 36-year-old husband's snoring and divorced him on June 9, the newspaper said. The Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - July 2003 Chinese Couple Wins Refund Over Sad Songs Played At Wedding A pair of newly-weds in China have won a refund for their wedding banquet after sad songs were played throughout the festivities, a news report said Wednesday. As the couple toasted their marriage with guests at a restaurant in Keqiao, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, morose Chinese songs including "You Took Away My Woman" and "Why Do You Love Someone Else Secretly" were played in the background. The couple were given an 80% discount on the banquet, which cost RMB1,500 (US$180) per table, after they threatened to report the restaurant to the local consumer association. The Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - July 2003 Suspicious Husbands And Wives Snap Up Voice-Altering Devices In China Suspicious husbands and wives in western China are rushing to buy a voice-altering device that makes men sound like women and women sound like men, a news report said Tuesday. They are using the devices to make bogus phone calls to their spouses to see if they being unfaithful to them by posing as lovers. The electronic voice-changer is being sold on web sites in the Qinghai province for RMB100 (US$12). South China Morning Post - July 2003 ?P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Police Hunt Runaway Bride After Mistress Storms China Wedding Police in eastern China are searching for a distraught bride who ran out on her wedding when the groom's former lover disrupted the ceremony. Tearful Li Ping ran out of her wedding in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, when the woman marched in and shouted out that groom Wang Dong was “a swindler? Wang, 35, had split up with the married woman after a series of rows before meeting Li Ping in July. Li, who knew nothing about Wang's previous affair, agreed to marry him after a whirlwind courtship. When his previous lover found out about his marriage she decided to disrupt the ceremony. Li Ping was so upset that she ran off and her family, friends and the police have failed to track her down. Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - September 2003 ?/P> The Oldest Affair On Record ?P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">An 82-year-old Taiwanese woman from Hsinchu is threatening to sue her 90-year-old husband after he was found having an extramarital affair with another woman, aged 80. The two were discovered in flagrante delecto when police and the wife searched a hostel and the errant husband told them he was love with the younger woman and did not regret what he had done. ?P>
KFC Customer In China Sues Over Kentucky Fried Worm A KFC customer in southern China is suing the fast food chain after claiming she found a worm in her takeaway meal. The woman is claiming US$6,100 compensation for psychological damage from the restaurant, saying she has been unable to eat fried food since. Her law suit has been filed against the KFC branch in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and its holding company Yum! Restaurants International South China Morning Post - October 2003 Faeces Flinger Given One Year Probation A woman who threw a bag of excrement into the face of a former colleague she held a grudge against was yesterday put on probation for 12 months. Kwok Kam-lin, 48, also threatened to cause bodily harm to her former employer during a menacing phone call on May 20 following her sacking in February. Kwok, a former saleswoman, earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault and making a threatening phone call. Eastern Court magistrate Julia Livesey said she had decided to place Kwok, a former saleswoman, on probation after giving consideration to her previous good record, her guilty plea and the content of a probation report. The court heard Kwok had worked selling water purifying equipment since September 1997, but after she was sacked her position was filled by former colleague Lee Man-nar. Kwok believed Ms Lee had spoken badly of her behind her back, causing her to lose her job. On May 27, Ms Lee was working in the Wing On Department Store, Tai Koo Shing, when Kwok assaulted her with the bag of excrement. Ms Lee was wearing a facemask at the time, but her hair and clothes were soiled. The defendant fled the scene immediately after the attack and was later arrested by police.
South China Morning Post - July 2003
Man May Sue Restaurant After Three Mice Fell In His Meal
A Chinese man is considering suing a fast-food restaurant after three mice fell from the ceiling and landed in his food. Cao, from Shenzhen, said he was too shocked to continue his meal at the restaurant in Guangzhou's Xianliezhonglu. He was dining with friends when it happened. The restaurant's manager apologised and offered Cao a free meal but refused his request for compensation.
Southern Metropolis News - June 2003
Chinese Pensioner Proves Virginity In Court
An 85-year-old Chinese woman has sued a neighbour who claimed she wasn't a virgin. The elderly spinster, called Zeng, was awarded ?50 compensation and the neighbour was ordered to apologise. The lawsuit had been going on for about 10 years in Guangdong. A neighbour slandered Zeng, who was very proud of her reputation, during a quarrel in 1994 by saying she had engaged in secret sexual affairs. Zeng filed a lawsuit against the neighbour and produced a doctor's test backing her claim. Although the lawsuit was initially thrown out, Zeng lodged an appeal. The Huizhou Intermediate People's Court finally ruled in her favour after reopening the case.
Guangzhou Daily - May 2003 Man Sues Shop After Belt Comes Loose During Meeting A Chinese man is suing a shop that sold him a belt that twice came loose during an important business meeting. Li, of Zhengzhou, Henan Province, was meeting a woman executive from Canada about a contract to run an immigration agency. But he failed to win the ?0,000 contract after his belt twice came loose. Li said he had already reached a verbal agreement to become the local representative of an immigration agency. He had bought the ?0 belt from a local shopping centre before a final interview for the contract. But the belt suddenly came loose when he shook hands with the woman in her hotel lobby, forcing the woman to look away in embarrassment. Li apologised and fixed the belt in the bathroom. But then the same thing happened again in the middle of their conversation. He is suing the shop for ?5,000 compensation. Henan Shangbao - March 2003 Disgruntled Movie Fan Sues Cinema For Film Delay A disgruntled movie fan is suing a cinema in China because his film started four minutes late. Lawyer Zhang Yang says he was forced to watch four minutes of adverts before Chinese film Hero began. He claims commercials delayed the start of the film until 9.34 pm when his ticket said it was due to commence at 9.30 pm. Mr Zhang has lodged a writ against Zhejiang Cuiyuan Movie World and Beijing New Picture Distribution in Xihu District People's Court in Hangzhou. He is demanding the adverts are stopped, a refund of his ? ticket and ? in compensation. Beijing Today - January 2003 Sounds of Music Ease Stress in Chinese Court The People's Court of Beijing's Chaoyang District, one of the busiest and most efficient courts in the Chinese capital, has found a brand-new way of easing the normally nerve-wracking ordeal of the legal system - music. Around 10 o'clock in the morning, the traditional, vivid strains of Chinese folk music -- "Tinkling Fountain in Towering Mountains', "Returning Home", "the Starlit Sky" and other lively melodies -- are often heard lingering in the registration hall of the court. People stream in and out and the usual noise and clamour of the passed days seems greatly reduced. "The magic of music has been such a surprise -- the hall has become much more orderly and peaceful than before," said Cao Zhigang, a presiding judge of the registration court. "Most of the people who come to the court do not have a light heart, but music appeases their anger and distress to varying extent," said Cao. "It was the first time that I ever went to court and I was in bad mood," said one defendant Cui. "But when I stepped into the hall and heard the piece of lovely music named "Returning Home", I was reminded of the deep affection of my own family. And now, no matter what the verdict of the court might reach, I will accept it without any complaint," he said. Peoples Daily - July 2003 Sex Spray Claim Refused The Xuhui District People’s Court has rejected a local man’s lawsuit against a pharmacy for selling a spray that he claimed harmed his health. On June 19th, 2000, the man, surnamed Xia, spent RMB79 at the Changqiao Community Pharmacy on the spray that was said to enhance sexual capability. He claimed the poor quality of the product resulted in kidney pain. He filed a lawsuit, seeking RMB72,800 for medical expenses and mental anguish. The court ruled that Xia failed to provide enough evidence to prove his disease was due to the spray. Shanghai Daily - July 2003
Occupational Hazards
A group of employees at the recent World Carnival in Pudong complained to the media after they found their jobs were becoming too hazardous for the meager salary they were paid. The 40 or so complainants were all employees on the Maze of Terror ride where their job was to jump out and scare people as they passed by. The problem was that many people would react by thumping the hapless ghosts and sometimes attacking them with umbrellas or other weapons they happened to be carrying. Each ghost was paid just RMB60 and had to endure thrashings at least a couple of times a day.
Shanghai Talk - September 2003
Beggar in China Threatens to Sue Well Wisher Who Threw Money at Him
A beggar in southern China is threatening to sue a well wisher who threw money hitting him in the face. The beggar was sitting near the entrance of Guangzhou airport in Guangdong province when the donor threw coins at him. The angry beggar chased after the man and grappled with him before police separated them. The beggar says he will now sue the man for insulting his dignity.
Hong Kong edition of the China Daily, February 2004
Eight Year Old Sues Chinese Airline Lu Zhenyuan, an eight-year-old Chinese boy, did not look young enough to merit an airfare discount, but now he has proven old enough to drag the airline company to court. Lu, from Ningbo , bought the ticket from China Eastern Airlines to the southwestern city of Kunming during January's Lunar New Year festival, paying the full price. It was only when he was airborne that he looked at the back of his ticket to discover that he was entitled to a 50% discount. The legally savvy youngster has now decided to sue China Eastern as well as a Ningbo travel agency, asking for compensation and a public apology in a local newspaper, the report said. Qianlong media website - March 2004
The Naked Diner
A Japanese restaurant in Kunming has got into trouble with its latest marketing gimmick. The Yamato Wind Village was to offer the so-called 'Feast on a Beauty's Body' meal deal (better than Pizza Hut's rather boring 'all-you-can-eat' deal) which comprised sushi dishes served on the naked bodies of two female Chinese university students - all for US$85. City officials moved in and stopped the unique meal deal citing a lack of 'appropriate health certificates'.
Imposter dupes old Chinese patriots A conman took advantage of his resemblance to Sun Yat-sen, father of the revolution that toppled China's last emperor in 1911, to dupe a few patriotic old people out of their money, officials say. Wang Jiancheng, 61, posed as Sun despite the fact the former Chinese president and national hero would be over 130 today, according to a statement from the Beijing Chaoyang District government on Monday. As Sun, Wang claimed to have been living abroad "instead of having died in 1925 as the history books state", media said. Wang and accomplice Chen Meiying, who claimed to be Sun's faithful servant of decades, convinced six men all over 80 to contribute a total of 240,000 yuan (16,000 pounds) to finance a "national investment project", the government said. It did not say when the scam took place but the lenders were told their money would be returned within three months. Wang and Chen were detained while attempting another scam on March 10, the district government said. "The public security bureau is investigating the case," said an official from the Beijing Public Security Bureau, who declined to be identified. Sun, who died in 1925, is a hero in China despite being the former leader of the Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, defeated by the Communists in 1949. His portrait was displayed in the middle of Beijing's Tiananmen Square last week to coincide with China's May Day holiday. Reuters, May 2004 'Buddha' turns out to be drunk A "living Buddha" attracted numerous tourists at the renowned Fuzimiao Temple Square in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. But the man turned out to be intoxicated. On the evening of May 4, tourists saw a man climb on top of a huge vase in the square and sat inside, as if he was a Buddha sitting on the holy lotus seat. When he fell from the 2-metre tall vase, he attempted to climb again, but was stopped by the police. They took the man to the police station and eventually found out that he had been at a wedding party and had taken a lot of alcohol. Yangtze Evening News - May 2004
Punishment for Calling Police Chief Impotent A woman from Wuqi County has spent a week in jail after called the chief of the local public security bureau impotent. Bai Caizhen, 33, became so irritated abiout the lack of progress in investigating a break-in at her house in March that she vented her anger at the chief by claiming he was not China News Service - May 2004
Doctors In China Retrieve Swallowed Engagement Ring Doctors in southern China retrieved a woman’s engagement ring from her stomach after she swallowed it during a row with her fiance. The young woman from Guangdong province swallowed the ring in front of her boyfriend as they argued. When she cooled down she agreed to go to hospital where doctors fished it out using a gastroscope and a piece of thread. South China Morning Post - October 2003 Gambler Goes Blind After Three-Day Card Game In China A gambling addict in China lost the sight in his left eye after playing a card game that lasted three days and three nights. The businessman from Shanghai was found to have a tear in his retina after going blind in one, after the non-stop three-day session. As well as losing heavily at cards, the gambler had to pay another RMB20,000 (US$2,400) for two operations which only partially restored his sight. Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - July 2003 Scientists In China Seek 20 Flawless Women To Find Secret To Beauty Scientists at a university in central China are trying to discover the secret of beauty by collecting DNA samples from 20 flawless women. Researchers at the school of biology in Hunan University plans to study the DNA samples to see if they can find a common denominator in the women's genetic make-up that might provide the secret to beauty. The research team has contacted a local TV company for help in tracking down 20 of the most beautiful women in the province for its project. The television company said it had agreed in principle to help the university project provided the scientists were serious about using the data they collected for research. Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - August 2003 Doctor Arrested for Selling Patients as WivesChinese police arrested the director of a psychiatric hospital for drugging female patients and selling them off as wives, a police official said Tuesday. Dr Wang Chaoying, head of a mental hospital in Huazhou in southern Guangdong, had made more than 20 transactions since 1998 in which he sold patients as wives for "thousands of yuan, He was arrested for selling women. The case is still under investigation," Ruan Rongzhi, a police officer in Huazhou, told Reuters by telephone when asked about the report. He declined to give details. Qianlong said the women had been forced to take medicine before they were sold in order to keep the buyers from realizing they were mental patients.?Some of the men later demanded refunds, it said. China has 70 million bachelors unable to find wives. Men outnumber women as a result of a one-child policy, which led to many foetuses of girls, traditionally discriminated against, being aborted. ?/P> Reuters from the Qianlong news Web site - August 2003 ?/P> Live Worm Found In Man's Brain During Surgery ?/P> A live nine-centimetre-long worm has been found inside a man's brain during surgery in China. The 42-year-old man from Luoding is said to have recently developed a mental disorder. Medical experts suspect the man had the worm because of his habit of eating snakes and frogs. ?/P> South China Morning Post - July 2003 ?/P> Elite Sperm Bank Short Of Suitable Donors An elite sperm bank in China is struggling because of a lack of suitable donors. The Chengdu-based centre has attracted fewer than 20 samples in its four-year history. It blames a dearth of candidates able to match up to its high standards. It only accepts sperm from people with academic degrees equal to associate professor or above, sports or entertainment stars, and high-ranking managers or bankers. Donors must pass more than 20 tests, which can take more than six months to complete. Besides their social status, donors must be under the age of 60 and healthy with no hereditary illnesses in the family. The centre has helped just four couples have babies. 400 women are currently on its waiting list. Xinhua - June 2003 ?/P> Man Tries To Sell Kidney, Eyeball And Testicle To Get Rich ?/P> A 19-year-old Chinese man is offering a kidney, an eyeball and a testicle to the highest bidder. Zhou, a security guard, from Changsha, said it was the quickest way he could think of to get rich. He's posted several public notices and says he had received a number of inquiries but had not yet struck a deal. He has put a minimum price of ?,200 on both the kidney and the testicle and ?,600 on the eyeball. ?/P> Xiaoxiang Morning Post - June 2003 ?/P> Woman Froze Gullet Eating Ice Cream ?/P> A Chinese woman spent a week in hospital after she froze her own gullet by eating too much ice cream. The woman seriously damaged her oesophagus. Li, 23, started eating ice cream out of her refrigerator after returning home from work. She went to see her doctor the following day, complaining of pains in her throat and stomach, and was checked into hospital. Doctors in Guangzhou said Li's oesophagus froze because she ate too much ice cream too quickly. Southern Metropolis News - June 2003 Life Support Man Threatened By Unpaid Electricity Bill A man on a life support machine in China almost died because his son forgot to pay the electricity bill. The man, named only as Sun, didn't realise until the lights went out in his home. Sun, who lives in the Tongzhou District, called the power supply office and asked to be reconnected. The power was restored and Sun's father was unaffected. He later gave the electricity office a silk banner to show his gratitude. Beijing Times - April 2003 Surgeons Find Live 9 Centimetre-Long Worm Inside Man's Brain Surgeons in southern China have found a live 9 centimetre-long worm inside a man's brain, a news report said Wednesday. The 42-year-old man from Luoding, Guangdong province, was being operated on for a brain disorder when the worm was discovered. Medical experts believe the man ingested the worm through his habit of eating snakes and frogs, and that it then worked its way up to his brain, according to the newspaper. Information Times - July 2003 Sorehead Wins Minhang District People’s Court yesterday ordered a local beauty parlour to pay RMB 2,716 (US$ 327) in compensation to a local resident whose forehead was burned while getting his hair styled. The man identified by the surname Zheng went to the parlour the day before his wedding. Due to the injury, he had to go through his wedding ceremony with a heavily bandaged head.
Shanghai Daily - June 2003 Strange Chest Pains Doctors from Shanghai Chest Hospital found a 5-cm broken sewing needle in a patient’s right lung. The Anhui Province patient, identified by the surname Zheng, suffered from strange chest pains and haemoptysis recently, and went to the hospital on Sunday. Doctors still don’t know how the needle got into his lung, but say they will perform surgery soon to remove it. Shanghai Daily - June 2003
Chopsticks on the Brain
A Malaysian man who sought treatment for swelling in his eye had a shock when doctors found a six centimetre length of chopstick embedded just beneath his brain. The chopstick, which ran from under his right eye through his nose and to the back of his left eye, was believed to have been lodged there five years ago during an attack by unknown assailants. Chinese Woman in Search of Beauty has 48 Cosmetic Operations
A woman in western China has had 48 cosmetic surgery operations including 18 on her nose in an attempt to make herself more beautiful. The 30-year-old from Kunming, Yunnan province, has spent RMB 200,000 (US$ 24,100) over the past five years. Cosmetic surgery has boomed in popularity in China in recent years with clinics springing up all around the country, many of them unlicensed. TV stations across the country last year followed the case of 24-year-old Hao Lulu who had four rounds of "all over" plastic surgery to make herself more attractive after a friend called her plain.
South China Morning Post - February 2004 A Nanjing man has inadvertently turned his 16-month old daughter into an alcoholic. The father began to give his daughter spirits to drink when she was just six months old because he thought it would be 'fun', but her need for alcohol soon got out of control. The girl can now drink more rice wine than her father. Dahe News - February 2004 He is an aspiring rock star, but Yu Zhenhuan's claim to fame for now is that he is the hairiest man in all of China. Hair covers 96 percent of Yu's body. A stringy black fuzz matts every inch of his lanky frame, save for the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet. And Yu has chosen to make use of his unique physical appearance, placing photos of himself on his Web site www.maohai.com -- or Hairboy.com -- as part of a drive to land a recording contract and become China's newest rock star. Reuters - August 2004
Very Basic Blackmail A District court in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, recently sentenced a man to six years in prison for blackmailing a local restaurant. On November 8th last year, Shao Jianli put a self-made bomb on a dining table of the restaurant and demanded RMB1,000 (US$120) from the restaurant, the court said. When alarm dispatched police arrived, Shaoi threatened to set off the explosive but was subdued after a standoff. Shanghai Daily - July 2003 Cheat Jailed Shanghai’s Changning District People’s Court yesterday sentenced Shen Xueyong to one year in jail and fined him RMB3,000 (US$361) for fraud. Until January this year, the jobless Shen had cheated 20 supermarkets, in which he poured cleanser on the ground, then pretended to fall down and broke his spectacles. Claiming the liquid was dumped by shop cleaners, Shen would seek compensation, ranging from RMB200 to RMB400, each time. He was caught by two supermarket managers. Shanghai Daily - July 2003 Mugger Pretended To Be Victim's Husband A mugger has been arrested in China after he robbed a woman by pretending to be her husband. The man walked up to the woman in Haicheng, Liaoning province,and grabbed her bag, shouting: "Why didn't you tell me you were going shopping here?" When the startled woman asked who he was, he replied: "What are you playing at? I'm your husband." Passers-by did not intervene in what they assumed was a domestic quarrel. But the woman, Wang, who was not married, and her companion, Lu, finally managed to convince them the man was a robber. Pedestrians later caught the 30-year-old man as he tried to run away. He was handed over to the police who placed him under arrest. Northern Morning Post - April 2003 Woman Trapped Mobile Phone Thief By Asking For A Date A Chinese woman trapped the man who stole her mobile phone by ringing him up and asking for a date. The mobile phone was in her handbag, which was stolen from the balcony of her Beijing apartment. A few weeks later she rang the number out of curiosity and a man answered. She pretended to be a friend of the phone's former owner, and struck up a conversation with the man as if he too was a friend of the owner. She then started exchanging flirtatious text messages with him before eventually suggesting they go on a date. To her delight, the man agreed to let her visit his home, so she called the police who arrested him as he waited for her at a bus stop. He now faces charges of stealing a mobile phone, a handbag and about ?00 in cash. Hong Kong edition of China Daily - July 2003 ?P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Blackmailer Pretended To Be Osama's Brother - Bin Lager ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">A Chinese blackmailer who pretended to be Osama bin Laden's brother, has been jailed. Wang Zhenzhou - or bin Lager - from Panjim, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for extorting nearly ?,500 from a neighbour. He told the man he was bin Lager, the notorious terrorist's brother, and he would bomb the man's house if he didn't pay. In his defence, Wang told the court his girlfriend had threatened to dump him if he didn't give her ?,000. ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Liaoning Legal Daily - June 2003 ?P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Conman Left 'Wife' As Deposit To Steal Mobile Phone ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">A conman left his "wife" as a deposit to swindle a mobile phone from a shop in China. The man, who claimed to be an investor from Taiwan, asked to test a Nokia phone in a shop in Lingyuanxilu. He wanted to try the ?50 phone outside the shop and left his "wife" and a packet of "money" as security. But he never returned and the woman then told shop staff she hardly knew the man. When the shop manager asked the "wife" to pay for the phone, she said she had only known him for three days and didn't even know his name. The envelope was full of waste paper. The woman, who worked at a local beauty salon, said she had just been invited by the "Taiwan investor" to accompany him to buy a mobile phone. She was detained for questioning but later released. ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Guangzhou Daily - June 2003 ?P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Prisoner Lied To Stay In Bed For 13 Years ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">A prisoner in China pretended he had rheumatism for 13 years so he could stay in bed. The convicted murderer lied about his condition to stay in the prison hospital in Hubei because it was more comfortable than his cell. He eventually told the truth after he became bored of spending all day in bed. But when he finally tried to get up, he found he could no longer stand because his muscles had wasted away. ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">South China Morning Post - May 2003 ?P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Man Thought Wearing Lingerie Made Shoplifting Undetectable ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">A Chinese man caught shoplifting while wearing women's underwear told police he believed the lingerie made his crimes undetectable. The 26-year-old said he was very superstitious. He had heard that if he wore women's underwear, his shoplifting would go undetected. The man, from Luocheng, was caught stealing women's clothing from a store in Kiuzhou. He was found to be wearing the lingerie when officers strip-searched him. ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Xinhua - April 2003 ?P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Fortune Teller's Advice Turns Woman To Crime ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">An elderly woman was caught shoplifting in China after a fortune teller advised her to eat some free meat. The well-to-do woman was caught stealing meat from a supermarket. The woman, in her 60s, had visited a fortuneteller who predicted a mishap in her home in Dalian, Shandon Province. She asked how the bad luck could be avoided and was told to make sure her family ate some free meat. The woman first planned to ask her friends to give her some meat but the fortune teller told her that "gift meat does not count". She was caught in a supermarket when she put two pieces of cooked meat into her mouth and tried to pocket more. She had wanted to save some for her grandson. ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Dalian Evening News - April 2003 Chinese Man Ordered To Give Back 'Stolen' Public Toilet A Chinese man who 'stole' a public toilet because his flat was so small has been ordered to give it back. Liu rented the flat from the Xicheng District Government but complained it was too small to live in. He took over a toilet in the courtyard, which was supposed to be shared with his neighbours, and turned it into a kitchen. The housing authority ordered him to move out but Liu refused, claiming the flat he rented was too small to accommodate him. He was sued in the Xicheng District People's Court, which ruled against him. Beijing Evening News - April 2003 Plant Thieves Police in Pudong District said yesterday they have nabbed three women and a man for allegedly stealing valuable plants grown in the city’s Outer Ring Road green belt. The three females were all in their 50’s and natives of Jinshan District. They hired the man, a truck driver, to transport the stolen valuables. Police estimated the suspects had chopped at least 10,000 trees and other plants, then resold them in Zhejiang Province. Shanghai Daily - July 2003 Deaf Mutes Steal Mobile Phones Four local deaf mutes were arrested for alleged links to a shop robbery in late June. Police in Shanghai’s Luwun District revealed yesterday that two of the suspects got to know the shop owner, who is also deaf, and were consumed with envy at the victim’s prosperous business. They directed the robbery and assigned the other two suspects to commit it. All the robbed property, including three video cameras and one mobile phone, were chased back. Shanghai Daily - July 2003 Taiwanese Arrested Sex Masseuse Gains Sympathy From Public With A Lie A Taiwanese sex masseuse had local police and news media completely fooled by saying that she was in the illegal trade all because she wanted to enrich her writing experience, officers said Monday. The woman, 26, identified by her last name as Chen, was arrested Sunday after police raided an illegal brothel in the capital city of Taipei. “She had succeeded in winning our sympathy after telling us that she was a young rising authoress who wanted to gain experience in order to write a book about the life of a prostitute,?a police officer based in Taipei said by telephone. “Worst yet, some local news media bought into what she said and reported about her encounter,?the officer said. The woman claimed she had won a literary award recently and that she would be enrolled in a local university in autumn as a freshman majoring in Chinese literature. The almost perfect lie carried by local television stations had convinced some members of the public to call on the judicial authorities to give her a second chance and pardon Chen. But then her mother came forward and denied everything, the officer said. It was later learned that Chen had never written any novel nor won any literary award. Nor had she applied to become a university student, the officer added. Taipei Times - July 2003
Shoplifter caught with trousers down
A Chinese woman unhappy with the trousers she had stolen from a shop may have erred when she took them back to be shortened. "The woman found the pair of trousers too long for her, and hearing from others that the store alters any clothes they sell free of charge, she went there," But the store discovered the trousers were a missing pair and held her until she confessed to her theft
Yangtze Evening Post - February 2004
Taxi Thief Caught
The Zhangjiang Area Prosecutors' Office has apprehended a suspect surnamed Guo for stealing a cab. Police allege Guo was drunk when he stole the taxi and drove it without a license late on the night of January 8. After just a few hundred meters, he ran the cab into a telegraph pole. By the time the driver had caught up with him, Guo had passed out behind the wheel, police say.
Shanghai Daily - February 2004
Chinese waiters use customer's card to buy cellphones while he waits A pair of Shanghai waiters were arrested after taking off with a customer's credit card and using it to buy mobile phones while he sat in their restaurant. The diner, identified only by his surname, Zhu, had paid for lunch and was waiting for a receipt when the credit card company called. Had he just spent 25,000 yuan on new cell phones? Waiters Ling Hong and Wang Luole were arrested soon afterward and charged with theft. They had told Zhu there was a problem with his invoice and asked him to wait for a few minutes, then took the card to a nearby electronics mart. The pair never intended to be waiters for long, "but were merely looking for the opportunity to grab a credit card and run". Shanghai Daily - June 2004
Toilet thefts inconvenience Hong Kong Hong Kong police are trying to flush out thieves who have been stealing fixtures and fittings from public toilets. Taps, toilet-paper holders, electric fans and even an entrance gate have been swiped from conveniences in the Kowloon district of the city in a spree that has cost authorities tens of thousands of dollars, police said. The petty potty thefts come after eight manhole covers and street-drain covers were carted away in January. Officers said the demand for cheap metal in booming China was believed to be the cause of the thefts. AFP - August 2004
The Ketchup Scam The culprits work this scam as a team, and will approach lone victims in possession of luggage in public places. One of the culprits will discreetly smear the victim's clothing with ketchup, tomato juice or some other substance and then point the stain out to the victim. As the victim's attention is distracted whilst he attempts to remove the stain, the other team members will make off with his luggage. The Dropped Money Scam This scam involves two culprits, usually in the general area of an ATM machine. The first culprit will either withdraw cash from the ATM, or be walking away from the machine when he "accidentally" drops some of the cash in full view of a passer-by and disappears. The second culprit will then appear and pick up the "money" placing it quickly into a bag, asking the passer-by if he wishes to have a share of the cash. The first culprit returns and accuses the second of stealing it. In the argument that ensues, the first culprit says that he is going to make a report to police. The second culprit hands his bag over to the victim and asks him to keep hold of it for safekeeping, asking that he exchange any jewellery he might have as collateral. After the culprits leave to make their report to police the victim checks the money in the bag to find that it is worthless paper. From the Hong Kong Police Web Site ?/P>
Spray-On Stockings Fly Off The Shelves A Japanese inventor has come up with the answer to every woman's prayers - a stocking which is impossible to snag. The silk hosiery, called the Air-Stocking, comes in a can and is simply sprayed onto the leg as a fine quick-dry aerosol mist. Available in terracotta, natural or bronze colours, they cost about $12, and each can contains about 20 pairs of stockings. Although the Air-Stocking is waterproof, it can be washed off in the shower with a lot of soap, and a bit of scrubbing. Japanese stores are struggling to keep up with demand. Hanae Seki, the cosmetics manager at the Sony Plaza store in Tokyo's Ginza district, says the stockings are “perfect for Japan's summer season, when traditional stockings are too hot. We're selling several hundred bottles a month - people are coming from all over Japan to buy them." Just-Style.com - July 2003 'Minor Adjustments' Needed After Parachute Failed To Open A Chinese man was slightly injured after he jumped from a 180ft cliff to test his homemade parachute. Qin Ning, 33, landed in a pool of water after his parachute failed to open. He told the press that some minor adjustments were needed before it could be put on the market. Beijing Star Daily - March 2003 Home-Made Helicopter Will Search For 'Wild Man' ?P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">A Chinese man is building a homemade helicopter which he plans to use to look for the Wild Man of Shennongjia. Yu's aircraft has a frame made of iron bars, an old sofa for a seat, propellers made from second-hand wood and it's powered by a car engine. Yu says he will use it to try to find the fabled Wild Man of Shennongjia, a Yeti-like creature said to live in the mountainous forests of Hubei Province. The man said he decided to build the helicopter as the remote area cannot be reached by road. But he added that he would be satisfied if his machine flew just a dozen kilometres. ?P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">Beijing Star Daily - June 2003
TV Censors Pull Plug on Racy Weather Show Beijing ?Chinese television censors have axed a racy new weather programme after the scantily clad hostesses flirty performance aroused nationwide debate on the limits of tasteful entertainment. Star Weather featured former beauty queen Wu Rong as the bombshell meteorologist, flaunting her curvy figure while cooing fashion and beauty tips loosely based on the next days forecast. Hunan Entertaiment Channel launched the nightly show on May 26th. The reports, as thin on the meteorology as Ms Wu’s skimpy outfits, titillated viewers bored with robotic weathermen. But its racy format drew criticism from more traditional audiences. ?/P> Reuters reported in the Straits Times - July 2003 Crooked Yeti Seen on Road A "wild man" described as half man, half animal, has been sighted in China's Hubei province. The naked 1.64m tall yeti-like figure with black shoulder-length hair and crooked arms and back was spotted walking across a road in Shennongjia by six people travelling in a van. Described as a grey-skinned animal with a human shape, it fled at the sight of the people and footprints were later found trailing 30m into the woods. Officials are stepping up their hunt for the creature said to live in the mountains.
Daily Telegraph (Sydney) - July 2003 Village To Open Watermelon Museum A village south of Beijing is to open a watermelon museum to showcase its fruits, which are famous across the country for their size and sweetness. Panggezhuang village government will spend between RMB30 million and RMB40 million on the museum, which will cover about 28,000 square metres. Exhibits will include relics and documents covering the 200-year history of watermelon farming in the area and this year's heaviest melon, a 33.5kg whopper grown by farmer Song Baosen. Every year, 300,000 Chinese tourists visit village farms to pick watermelons, which cost less than the melons sold in shops. The village had gained fame through its annual watermelon festival, held since 1986, said Guo Chunyin, a guide at Mr Song's farm. "It will promote watermelon culture," said Wang Zhimin, a village government agriculture director. Watermelons interest tourists, she said, because they are "sweet, crisp and fill you up". The museum should also stimulate the village's economy, which had taken a hit when the watermelon festival was cancelled in May due to Sars, Ms Wang said. "It should help with the economy and it will leave people with a strong impression of our business," she added. The museum, due to open in November, will add an attraction to Beijing's rural Daxing district, which is flat and generally parched. Daxing has no Great Wall segments or historical relics, but it has a wild animal park with 10,000 beasts, including bears that eat out of people's hands, plus a white deer park and an ecology park. About two million tourists visited Daxing last year. South China Morning Post - July 2003 From the Big Apple to the Capital of Gypsum All cities nowadays like to be called something & develop a brand ?The case study for this is New York, the Big Apple of course. However there are others - Edinburgh is the Athens of the North, St Petersburg is the Venice of the North, Paris the City of Lights and of course our home base of Shanghai has been variously known as the Paris of the East and the Whore of the Orient ?take your pick. A few years ago, London considered running a campaign to brand itself as the Big Orange ?public opinion was not favourable. Now we think we have found a city that has branded itself with names that can beat any of these –Xiaogan City - situated in the northeast of Hubei Province. Xiaogan is a medium-sized with a population of about 5 million and the local administration has rebranded the city with three other titles that make you eager to hop on a train & behold the wonders that await. Xiaogan is also known romantically as the "capital of gypsum", energetically as the "sea of salt" and wistfully as the "warehouse of phosphate". Perhaps now other cities will follow Xiaogan’s lead ?“Hong Kong - city of masks" perhaps or “Beijing - city of sterilisation" and for Shanghai? How about “Shanghai - land of the all night pile drivers" or "city of lost taxis". Husband Advertises For Live-In Surrogate Mother In China A childless husband in western China is advertising for a surrogate mother to bear his child and live with him and his wife until the baby is born, a news report said Wednesday. The man, whose wife is sterile, is offering RMB30,000 (US$3,624) in return for the service with a bonus of RMB10,000 (US$1,208) if the baby turns out to be a boy. The husband, from Chongqing, says the woman must be around 25 years old and continue to live with him and his wife until the baby is born. So far, more than 10 young women have applied Xinhua - July 2003 China Erects “World's Biggest Condom?on Population Day A condom that could envelop a landmark hotel in the scenic city of Guilin, south China, was erected on Friday to mark the World Population Day. The move was launched by local birth control commission in cooperation with a local condom factory to showcase the theme of the day: the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people. The yellow PVC (polyvinyl chloride) condom, 80 meters high with a perimeter of nearly 100 meters, is so big that it can envelop the Xiangjiang, or Fragrant River, Hotel. Organizers also distributed condoms and brochures on sexual and reproductive health for free to domestic and overseas tourists. Liang Jinggui, vice-manager of the Guilin Latex Co, which sponsored the event, said the company accounted for one third of the country's condom exports. The company has applied to the publisher of the Guinness Book of Records to include the condom in the book as the world's biggest. China Daily - July 2003 Man Climbs Mountain on Stilts for a "Challenge" A 66-year-old man has climbed to the top of the 1,500 metre Taishan on stilts. Liu Decai said he enjoyed the challenge adding that he planned to hop on his stilts again to climb Wutai Shan in Shanxi Province. Yangtze Evening News - July 2003 Sell A TV And Earn 10 Yuan? Huang Hongsheng, Chairman of the Board of Skyworth Group, one of China's biggest colour TV set vendors, astonished Beijing's media by saying that "the average profit for selling one TV set is less than RMB 10. “It would be much better if our TV makers shift to sell Chinese cabbage" he said. Sinocast - July 2003 Home Buyer Accidentally Redecorates Neighbour's Villa In Shanghai A home buyer in China was ordered to restore her neighbour's villa to its original condition and pay compensation after she mistook it for her own and redecorated it. The woman bought one of two neighbouring villas sold at the same time in Pudong, Shanghai, but accidentally started decorating the wrong villa. She insisted it was hers when her neighbour found her decorating his villa and the case was referred to the Pudong New Area People's Court, which found the woman was in the wrong when it examined the contract of sale. The woman was ordered to restore the villa to its original condition, and pay her neighbour compensation of RMB5,000 (US$605). Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - July 2003 76-year-old Takes Mum, 102, Around China on a Trishaw For the past three years Mr Wang Yimin has been taking his 102-year-old mother on a tour of China ?on a trishaw, a backbreaking task for the anyone, let alone a 76 year old. His mother sits comfortably in a makeshift cabin. Mr Wang said he has changed the tyres and passenger seat three times since they set off from Harbin in May 2000. Mr Wang said he and his mother, who have covered about 20,000km so far, had always hoped to travel to all corners of the country. They have been to Hangzhou, Sanya and Qingdao already. They celebrated his mother’s centenary birthday in Hainan. In Jinan City, a firm was so touched by his filial piety that it motorised his vehicle and installed two batteries to make the journey less arduous. Mr Wang and his mother arrive in Beijing on Sunday after travelling non-stop for seven hours. They are now planning to go to Tibet. Straits Times - July 2003 Pillow Fight. Millions Of Chinese Bid For Beckham's Bedding Becksmania has hit such heights in China that the hotel he's staying at is to auction his pillow to the highest bidder. The Beijing Hotel will also flog towels, bathrobes, combs and shampoo bottles printed with the name of David Beckham and his Real Madrid teammates. England captain Becks makes his Real Madrid debut today in a match against select Chinese team the Dragon XI that will have a TV audience of one billion. Thousands of fans went wild outside the team hotel yesterday, desperate for a glimpse of their hero. Beijing locals were also queuing up to get Becks-style haircuts, dubbed the "Little Bei head" after the ace's Chinese nickname. Stylist Xu Kai said: "With Becks over here, even more people love him and want to have his hairdo." Daily Star (London) - August 2003 Smallest Room With A View Of Tiananmen A US$120,000 public toilet complete with TV has opened for business in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The luxury loo also boasts piped music and a computerised system, which tells people whether it is engaged or vacant. South China Morning Post - August 2003 Woman, 75, Upsets Neighbours By Cooking Topless ?/P> A 75-year-old woman has upset her neighbours in southern China by cooking topless on her apartment balcony. Neighbours complained to local authorities about the woman who cooks topless even in icy weather on the balcony of her home in Dongguan. The widow appeared to be polite and intelligent in all respects other than her tendency to remove her top before cooking out of doors. The neighbourhood committee talked to the woman but she told them it was "nobody's business" how she dressed at home. Explaining why she cooked topless, the woman reportedly quoted an old Chinese saying which goes: "Women over the age of 40 are like men." ?/P> Southern Metropolis News - July 2003 Man Who Walks Backwards Around Lake Falls In A Chinese pensioner who exercises by walking backwards around a lake had to be rescued after he lost concentration and fell in. Yan, 72, was saved by other exercising senior citizens. He was performing his daily routine of walking backwards around Bayi Lake which he believes is good for his health. But Yan, who was apparently counting his steps instead of checking his surroundings, miscalculated and fell backwards. Three other fitness enthusiasts saved him and took him to hospital, where he received three stitches on his head. Beijing Times - April 2003 Humble "One Cent" Beggar Gives Change To Over-Generous Donors A humble beggar in western China gives change to any well wisher who gives him more than one US cent. Yao Fuhua, 61, from Rongchang country, Sichuan province, refuses to accept more than one jiao, one tenth of a yuan or 1.2 US cents, when he begs on the street, telling donors any extra should go to other needy people. He gives change to anyone who gives him more than one jiao and if he has none, refuses the donation. South China Morning Post - ?August 2003 Police Scour Beijing Dump To Find Discarded US$12,000 Police in Beijing scoured a public garbage dump for hours to find US$12,000 accidentally thrown out with the rubbish. The cash belonged to an elderly man who wrapped it up and hid it in a waste paper bin, which was then thrown into the trash by his daughter. Garbage collectors took it to a large 1 kilometre-wide dump in Daxing County. Police were alerted and, using flashlights, they scoured the dump for hours until they eventually retrieved all the money. Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - August 2003 China Counterfeiters Build Fake Peninsula Hotel The talents of Mainland Chinese counterfeiters are renowned but even their latest effort has stunned their Hong Kong neighbours -- an exact replica of the venerated Peninsula hotel. Owned by the Chinese state power firm behind the Three Gorges Dam project, the four-star Peninsular hotel in Yichang in China's central Hubei Province, bears a striking resemblance to the real Peninsula hotel, with the same beige colouring, British colonial-style elegance and circular crest. The only notable difference from the outside between the 154-room fake luxury hotel and the original is the name -- "Peninsular Hotel", instead of "The Peninsula? Inside, the lobby area features a sweeping staircase and a grant piano. Hong Kong-based Peninsula Group has threatened legal action to put a stop to what the group's company lawyer Christobelle Liao described as "a blatant infringement" of the hotel chain's trademark rights. Sunday Morning Post - September 2003 Boy, 4, Lifts 50 Kilogram Woman In Air A four year-old boy from central China is so strong he can lift a 50 kilogram woman in the air. The toddler from Zhengzhou, Henan province, lifted a bottle containing 20 litres of water and then hoisted a 50 kilogram woman 7 centimetres off the ground in a demonstration for a newspaper. The boy's father was quoted as saying his son did not undergo any special training but ate much more than normal children. China Daily - September 2003 Farmers In China Says Pigs Grow Fatter On Musical Diet Farmers in eastern China are playing CDs to their pigs and say the musical diet helps them grow up to 20 kilograms heavier. The farmers at the Jintang Livestock Base in Dongjiang, Jiangxi province, have put loudspeakers inside their pig sties which are connected to CD players in their homes. They play light music to the pigs for two hours every day at feeding time and say it makes them happy and fatter. "Pigs eat better and sleep more soundly after hearing the music," said one farmer, adding that most of them weighed 20 kilograms more than usual after going on the musical diet Hong Kong edition of the China Daily ?September 2003 Free Kisses Fail To Raise Nut Sales In China Five girls offering free kisses for anyone who bought betel nuts pulled in only one customer in a street promotion in central China. The promotion in Zhuzhou, Hunan province, was called off after only one young man stepped forward to take advantage of the free kisses offer. South China Morning Post - September 2003 Kung Fu Monk, Aged 5, Does 3,600 Push-Ups In 20 Minutes A five-year-old monk at China's home of kung fu, Shaolin Temple, has done 3,600 push-ups in 20 minutes. The boy, who was sent to the famous home for monks by his father at the age of two because he was worried about his poor health, achieved the feat at a competition in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. He is now aiming to break the world record of 10,000 push-ups in seven hours, which he told reporters would be a "piece of cake". South China Morning Post - October 2003 Boy, 5, Can Read Phone Numbers From Sound Of Dialling A five-year-old boy in Beijing has developed the ability to read back telephone numbers by listening to the sound of the number being dialled. He Nan demonstrated his ability using a landline phone and two different mobile handsets, each time flawlessly reeling off the numbers dialled. The boy's mother said she had noticed his unusual sensitivity to sound from the age of three and said she had written to the Guinness Book of World Records to see if he qualifies for a mention. Hong Kong edition of the China Daily - October 2003 Tibet Crowns its Lonely Beauty Queen The not-so-coveted title of Miss Tibet has been won by 20-year-old Tsering Kyi. She was the only person who entered the second annual competition, staged in the northern Indian city of Dharamsala. The organiser, Lobsang Wangyal, said: "There was immense social pressure on the girls not to participate." Guardian (UK) - October 2003 Woman In Northern China Eats 10 Tonnes Of Soil In 70 Years A 78-year-old woman in northern China has eaten an estimated 10 tonnes of soil over the past 70 years. Hao Fenglan, from Zhangwu county, Liaoning province, developed a taste for mud and dirt at the age of eight and says she feels physical discomfort if she does not eat a meal of dirt at least once every day. The diet has done her little apparent harm and she is in good health. South China Morning Post - October 2003 Railway Worker Dies After Urinating On 380,000 Volt Cable In China A railway worker in China died when he accidentally urinated on a 380,000-volt cable in southern China. The worker was thrown 10 metres into the air by the force of the current at the railway station in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and died within minutes. South China Morning Post - November 2003 In a Hong Kong tailor shop: 'Order your summer suit. Because is big rush, we execute customers in strict rotation.' Thieves branch Out
Chinese criminals have smuggled everything from drugs to mobile phones over the past two decades, but gangs of thieves have now turned their attention to a very unusual contraband -- pine trees. The Buddhist pine, which grows in remote areas of Hong Kong's Sai Kung Country Park close to the mainland border, is prized by the Chinese for its lucky and spiritual properties. In the traditional Chinese geomancy known as feng shui (wind and water), the Buddhist pine is thought to keep out evil spirits and welcome visitors. Once smuggled to China, the trees, a protected species, can fetch up to A$ 25,332 and up to A101,329 in Japan. Two men from China were jailed for 21 months last week for stealing the "lucky trees".
Australian Herald Sun - February 2004
Contraceptive for Rats
China has come up with a contraceptive for rats. The spray contraceptive had passed appraisal and would be in production next month, an official said.
Townsveille Bulletin (Australia) - February 2004 Hong Kong Airport Porn Video Hong Kong's airport is up in arms over a Japanese porn video which shows a model posing in the nude in various locations at its state-of-the-art facility. The Japanese-language video came to light here after some Hong Kong newspapers printed shots from the film, which shows a young model clad in only a pair of high heels and a silver raincoat, which she flashes open time and again. "We are very concerned. We can't allow this to happen and we are very shocked," a spokeswoman for the airport authority said on Tuesday, adding that it had reported the matter to police. Some newspapers said the 60-minute film, called "Exposure trip in Hong Kong", shows the model "engaging in lascivious acts in direct view of the airline counters at the departure hall".
Reuters - February 2004
Facelift causes flight delay for woman
A woman who recently had cosmetic surgery missed her flight in Guangzhou last week because security staff found the photo on her ID card did not match her face, reports China News Service. The woman's nose and eyelids were distinctly different from the photo; and she was allowed to board the next flight only after security staff saw proof of surgery from hospital documents and confirmed it with her employer.
China Daily - February 2004
Rich beggar frequents nightclubs in suits
Some beggars in Guangzhou are so rich that they have built houses back in their hometowns, have concubines and pay for expensive services at nightclubs, reports New News Express. For example, the head of a beggars gang changes the small-denomination notes and coins into big-amount bills at the end of his work day and later goes to nightclubs in formal suits. Having begged in many provinces, he is admired by his followers for his skills, said a "colleague."
China Daily - February 2004
Man insults transsexual hairdresser, apologizes
A transsexual hairdresser in Shuangliu County, Sichuan Province, who was abused by a patron almost took the elderly man to the court, reports Chengdu Commercial News. Last week, Zhou, a retired medical worker, went to the local barber shop and found Zhang Lin - originally a man - dressed in women's clothes; he insulted her and swaggered out. The embarrassed Zhang immediately told her boyfriend about it and the outraged man planned to take the matter to the court. The matter was resolved after Zhou apologized to Zhang and claimed he was unaware that she had undergone transsexual surgery late last year.
China Daily - February 2004
Customer can't recognize himself in photo
The expertise of a photo studio in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, in processing pictures has stunned a customer who could not believe he looked so handsome, reports Chutian Jinbao Newspaper. Late last week, Chen Bo, a sales manager, found that he looked far more good-looking in the fine-art picture than in real life; and the photographer had to convince Chen that it was, indeed, him by explaining the processing. Chen said the new image injected a great deal of self-confidence into him.
China Daily - February 2004
Big Eaters Refused Entry by Restaurant
Five patrons in Chongqing were turned away from an "as much as you can eat" restaurant because they ate too much on a previous visit, and frightened the boss. Cui Bin, a local miner, and four fellow workers went to the hot-pot restaurant to have dinner; but to their surprise, they were prevented from entering by the boss, who said he was closing for the day. When they noticed others being allowed in, one of the five recalled they had dined their earlier in the month - and gulped down 20 dishes and 20 bowls of rice.
Chongqing Commercial News - February 2004
Spittle From Bus Leads to Street Fight
A man from Guangzhou became so angry after he was hit by spit from a passenger on a moving bus that he ran after the vehicle, forced it to stop and dragged the culprit out. Zhou was walking by the bus when Liu unintentionally spat on him. He immediately demanded RMB180 (US$22) as compensation for his soiled shirt but was refused by Liu, who saw it as extortion. The fighting men had to be separated by a security guard.
Information Times, March 2004
Stale Cabin Air Drives Man Onto Aircraft Wing
A tourist from Hunan, who was flying for the first time, caught flight attendants by surprise when he opened the emergency door and squatted on the wing of the plane while it sat on the tarmac at Shenzhen Airport. The man said he left the cabin because of "the stale and hot air". He was reprimanded by the aircraft's captain.
South China Morning Post - May 2004
Hong Kong widow gives pet rooster away after castration fails to stop crowing
An elderly Hong Kong widow whose beloved pet rooster's crowing drew complaints from neighbours has reluctantly given the bird away after a castration operation failed to shut him up. The 61-year-old woman, who wasn't named, said she slept in the same bed as the rooster and "cried and cried for weeks" after parting with the bird about a month ago, the Post reported. "He was more loyal than a dog. Whenever I called him from the living room he would come out from the kitchen saying 'coo-coo,"' she was quoted as saying. The veterinarian who castrated the rooster only removed one testicle because of excessive bleeding, but the partial castration at least reduced the enthusiasm of the bird's early morning salutation, the report said. The widow defied public housing rules by keeping the rooster, along with three ducks and two hens, in her apartment. She reportedly referred to the flock as her "children." Hong Kongers rarely keep poultry as pets, but live chickens packed in cages are a common sight in Hong Kong markets.
Domestic Drama A man in China broke both his legs when he tried to use his umbrella as a makeshift parachute. He jumped out of a window because he thought his microwave was about to explode. Evening Mail, 06-12-2004 Chinese couple trade in baby boy for mobile phones A couple in China have traded in their newborn baby boy for two new mobile phones. The couple, who live in Beijing, sold their five day-old boy for US$1,569 and used the money to buy new mobile phones. Police arrested the 32-year-old man and his 22-year-old wife after the husband's enraged brother reported them after hearing about the sale. The mother, from China's Henan province, told police she did not know it was illegal to sell her son. South China Morning Post - September 2004 |
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