China Digest : 26-27 February 2015

[DSGunner]

Around the nation: Temple staff don helmets as it rains pennies to the God of Wealth

Also: Highly educated coffee shop thief is a real mug; Marriages barely outnumber divorces in Nanjing on first working day of Lunar New Year

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 26 February, 2015, 9:45pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 26 February, 2015, 9:45pm

Workers at Wuhan's Guiyuan Temple in Wuhan don helmets as worshippers showered coins on the God of Wealth. Photo: SCMP Pictures

HUBEI

Raining pennies

Workers at Guiyuan Temple in Wuhan strapped on helmets as worshippers tossed a shower of coins at the main shrine on Monday, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, which marks the visit of the God of Wealth, Chinanews.com reports. Throwing coins at the shrine is believed to bring good fortune in the year ahead.

Boy at the wheel

A boy aged about five was photographed gripping the steering wheel of a car being driven along a street in Wuhan on Tuesday, as his parents sat calmly beside him, the Yangtse River Daily reports. The photographer said the car was travelling at about 50km/h, although very few vehicles were on the street at the time. Police said parents who let minors drive would be prosecuted.

BEIJING

Trial for pop star

Popular singer Yin Xiangjie will stand trial tomorrow morning in Chaoyang district court for drug possession, the Beijing Youth Daily reports. Yin, a former anti-drugs ambassador for Beijing, is the latest mainland celebrity prosecuted for drug-related offences. He was detained in late December after 15 grams of various drugs were seized at this home. He faces up to seven years in prison and fines if convicted.

Freebies for green cars

The municipal government is considering granting free parking to and waiving highway tolls for owners of renewable energy vehicles this year as a part of the city's ambitious efforts to tackle air pollution, The Beijing News reports. About 150,000 new cars would hit the city's roads this year, including 30,000 that ran on renewable energy, the report said.

CHONGQING

Grandparents cause split

A couple filed for divorce on Wednesday after their own parents argued over taking care of their four-month-old grandson, the Chongqing Evening News reports. The couple told the judge that the wife's mother, who had been taking care of the child since he was born, refused to give the grandson to the husband's parents during the Lunar New Year. Their divorce application was rejected because the child was less than a year old, and the couple agreed to settle the dispute.

Costly dinner surprise

A 31-year-old woman was informed by her bank that three unauthorised purchases were made on her credit card while she was having a Lunar New Year family dinner, the Chongqing Evening News reports. The transactions, totalling about 13,000 yuan (HK$16,400), were made in Bangladesh for three air tickets. Police said her credit card data may have been leaked when she travelled abroad, according to the report.

JIANGSU

Ins and outs of marriage

In all, 124 couples tied the knot while 111 couples filed for divorce in Nanjing on Wednesday, the first working day after the Lunar New Year holiday, the Modern Express reports. Civil affairs officials said the divorce rate was higher than on normal days, and that people might have decided to make a new start after the break, according to the report.

Poodle in lab

A doctor was criticised by hospital management after she was photographed taking a dog to a hospital laboratory in Liyang on Sunday, the Modern Express reports. Photos circulated online showing a white poodle sitting on a chair behind a woman doctor as she worked. The doctor explained the dog was with her husband when he brought her dinner that day, and stayed in the lab for a few minutes.

SHAANXI

Mum loses daughter

A mother in a hurry to get home to prepare dinner on Lunar New Year's Eve found her daughter was missing from the bike seat after a 30-minute ride in Xian on Wednesday, Sanqin.com reports. The mother, who retraced her journey along the same route without finding the child, reported the incident to the police. The little girl, who was already safely in their care, told officers that she fell off the back of the bike but her mother rode away too quickly to notice. She was taken to the police station by a shopping mall security guard.

On the beat

Xian police have detained a man suspected of stealing a smartphone at the city's famous Drum and Bell Tower Square tourist site on Tuesday night as the district's police chief was inspecting the area, the Huashang Daily reports. The phone, which was worth 2,700 yuan, was returned to the owner, the report said.

SHANDONG

Driver faces suspension

A bus driver faces a possible suspension of his licence after police found 54 passengers squeezed into his 34-seat minibus at a checkpoint in Jinan on Tuesday, news portal dzwww.com reports. The driver was fined 2,000 yuan and 12 demerit points, which means he may only be able to drive a car, but not a bus or other small vehicles, in future.

Boy drinks herbicide

A 15-year-old boy in Jinan remains in critical condition after accidentally drinking herbicide, Xinhuanet.com reports. The severely near-sighted boy mistakenly drank the toxic liquid, thinking it was a bottled drink, on Sunday night. He was rushed to hospital and was being closely monitored, the report said.

XINJIANG

Quake in far west

A magnitude 5 earthquake that struck mountainous Shawan county west of the capital Urumqi on Sunday damaged 1,728 houses, Xinhuanet.com reports. Local government officials said more than 6,700 people were affected but no deaths or injuries were reported.

Ancient city found

Archeologists in the remote city of Kashgar have unearthed traces of an ancient city that is probably the oldest in the region, the Guangming Daily reports. The ruins were discovered near a riverbank in Shache county. The remains suggest that the settlement might have been built during the Neolithic or Bronze ages and covered an area of about one hectare.

ZHEJIANG

Smart thief just a mug

A 40-year-old man with a master's degree and a decent job has confessed to stealing on four occasions from a Starbuck's coffee shop in Hangzhou since December because he had to wait too long at the checkout, the Today Morning Express reports. The man, who described himself as a "Starbucks fanatic" who had collected more than 100 Starbucks mugs, told police he stole two mugs, a bag of coffee beans and a notebook from the same shop.

New foreign schools

Two international boarding schools for foreign children are expected to open this year in Hangzhou in addition to the two foreign schools already operating in this city of 2.5 million people, southeast of Shanghai, Zjol.com reports. Two hundred students are expected to be admitted to the new schools this year. At present, 518 students from 40 countries study at the city's two foreign schools, one offering an English curriculum, and the other Japanese.

 

[DSGunner]

Around the nation: Habitual mobile-phone using student seeks medical treatment for eye disorder and trembling hand

Also: No place like someone else's home; man who didn't trust banks loses fortune buried in backyard to thieving nephew instead

PUBLISHED : Friday, 27 February, 2015, 9:24pm
UPDATED : Friday, 27 February, 2015, 9:24pm

A student is seeking medical treatment for his eyes and wrist after chasing online red packets during the Lunar New Year holiday. Photo: SCMP Pictures

GUANGDONG

Dial 'S' for sick

A college student in Guangzhou who is a habitual mobile phone user has sought medical treatment for his constantly teary eyes and a continual spasm in his right hand, the New Express reports. Doctors confirmed that both symptoms were the result of playing with his cell phone for too much. The student said he tried to catch as many virtual red packets as possible during the Lunar New Year holiday, and barely left his phone. Doctors have also seen more cases of cervical spondylopathy, a condition affecting vertebrae of the neck, after the holidays.

Quarrel ends in tragedy

A couple in their late 20s drowned in Xinyi county following a petty argument, leaving their five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter orphans, Nanfang Daily reports. Neighbours said the couple started arguing after shopping, and the woman ran off and jumped into the river at about midnight. Her husband trying to rescue her but disappeared. By the time rescuers arrived, both had drowned.

ANHUI

Foiled by nephew

A man in Si county who did not trust banks found that about half a million yuan (HK$630,000) he had buried in his backyard disappeared during the Lunar New Year holiday, Ahwang.cn reports. Police found that his nephew stole the money to pay off a gambling debt.

Smouldering resentment

A man in Hefei set his own house on fire as revenge after an argument with his wife and son, the Anhui Shangbao reports. Firefighters and neighbours who tried to put out the blaze noticed the man standing aside, unmoved by the blaze. He was arrested after confessing that he piled his family's clothes in the bedroom, doused them in liquor and set them alight.

BEIJING

New year's pickings

Taking advantage of the busy Lunar New Year travel season, a pickpocket stole seven mobile phones including three iPhones, and five wallets containing more than 4,000 yuan at Beijing West Station, The Beijing News reports. He waited at the exits as passengers were in a rush to leave. He was later captured by railway police.

The art of the con

Prosecutors in Haidan district have ordered the formal arrest of a man for defrauding an artist of 1 million yuan, the Beijing Times reports. The man pretended to be the heir to an ancient Chinese royal family who needed to borrow the money to unfreeze his family's "royal assets". In return, he promised to stage an exhibition of the victim's paintings. The victim's family became suspicious and reported the man to police. The suspect admitted that he had tried variations of the same trick since 1996, netting him more than 2 million yuan.

CHONGQING

At their convenience

At least eight women were seen using the men's restroom within an hour at a busy tourist attraction in Shapingba district, the Chongqing Evening News reports. With long lines outside of the women's restroom, some, especially elderly women, walked directly into men's room. Some even took their children with them. Men said they could understand but felt awkward sharing the facility.

Monkey's collection racket

A wild monkey has visited a villager's house every day since last week to be fed peanuts, the Chongqing Chen Bao reports. The villager tried to make friends with the monkey, but the animal seemed interested only in the food. Each morning, the monkey has arrived at the house to collect his peanuts, which he takes away to eat. The villager was happy to see the monkey and said he would continue provide it with peanuts.

JIANGSU

Happy to be arrested

An meth addict in Liuhe county said he was relieved to be arrested because he finally had a safe place to stay away from debt collectors, the Yangtse Evening Post reports. He said he was about to turn himself in when police came to arrest him. The man claimed he had to walk around his residential building at least twice before returning home to make sure there were no debt collectors waiting for him. He will spend two years in rehabilitation.

Street cleaners assaulted

A married couple who are sanitation workers were assaulted by urban inspectors in Nanjing after an argument over street litter, Xhby.net reports. The couple confronted the inspectors who were throwing away posters they cleared from walls onto the street they had just swept. The wife tried to stop them but was told to leave the waste alone. The husband then came to her aid. The wife is still in hospital and cannot walk. Local officials said it was a misunderstanding, as the two departments usually worked well together.

JIANGXI

Hunter becomes hunted

A hunter who posted photos online of himself killing protected wild animals, including a crested goshawk, has been widely condemned by internet users, CCTV reports. The man turned himself in after the photos circulated widely.

Love's labour lost

A middle-school student knelt for hours outside the home of an elderly couple, begging them to convince their granddaughter to date him, the China News Service reports. He even ignored pleas from his own mother to go home. The couple called the police who dragged him into a squad car and took him away. The boy was rejected after he confessed his feelings to the girl. He went to her grandparents' house after a few drinks.

ZHEJIANG

Makes himself at home

A 22-year-old man who had his luggage and money stolen at a train station on his way home for Lunar New Year squatted in a house in Beilun for four days while the owners were away for the holiday, the Xiandai Jinbao reports. With no place to stay in the town, he man broke into the empty house and found there was food, a computer, cigarettes and a bed. He was found discovered when the owners returned, and arrested.

Collie left at toll gate

A collie stayed at a highway toll-gate for 13 days waiting for its owners to return, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The dog jumped out of the car through an open window on a foggy day. It chased and barked passing cars. Police are looking for the owners, and a pet shop is looking after the dog for now.