Around the nation: President Xi Jinping’s ‘China dream’ fires model maker’s imagination
Amateur painter Zheng Hongkang, from Zhejiang province, has built a life-sized clay model of China’s president after being inspired by the leader’s plans for the nation
PUBLISHED : Friday, 27 March, 2015, 5:30pm
UPDATED : Friday, 27 March, 2015, 5:30pm
Angela Meng [email protected]
Chinese villager Zheng Hongkang, a keen amateur painter, adds a dash of colour to his life-sized clay model of President Xi Jinping. Photo: Dfic.cn
ZHEJIANG
Xi inspires model maker
A villager has built a life-sized clay model of President Xi Jinping, news portal Dfic.cn reports. Zheng Hongkang, from Yuyao, said he had never had any artistic training, but had always enjoyed painting and moulding clay. He said he was inspired by Xi’s “China dream” to turn figures from his imagination into real-life models. Zheng has also built a collection of characters from the Chinese 16th century novel, Journey to the West.
Row ends in baby’s death
A mother reportedly inflicted fatal injuries on her 11-day-old baby daughter after throwing her on the floor during a row with her husband on Monday night, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The infant was rushed to hospital in Wenzhou, but doctors were unable to save her. The woman was taken into custody.
BEIJING
‘Watch stolen on first date’
A university student in Beijing allegedly stole a man’s 80,000 yuan (about HK$100,000) watch on their first date, Beijing Times reports. The student arranged to see the man after meeting on the social media website WeChat. She stayed at the man’s flat, but the next morning he called police after claiming his watch was missing. The student was arrested by police while attending class, according to the report.
Cost of dying ‘too high’
Beijingers spend an average of 80,000 yuan on memorial and burial services for relatives, China Radio International reports. A report by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Academy of Social Sciences, published ahead of the Ching Ming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day) on April 5, said that 92 per cent of residents thought buying a tomb in a cemetery now cost too much. It added that people were not choosing eco-burials because they believed only traditional burial rituals ensured the deceased rested in peace.
FUJIAN
Mistress ‘assaulted’
A woman was detained by police after a video went viral allegedly showing her beating her former husband’s mistress, the Strait Metropolis Daily reports. The video reportedly shows her holding down the other woman while slapping the mistress in the face and pulling her hair. Police in Fuding said the alleged row occurred after the man had stayed at a hotel with his mistress.
Revo-loo-tion now
Fujian province plans to build an extra 1,305 toilets at its major tourist sites within the next three years, the Southeast Express reports. The local tourism and housing authorities said the planned toilets were part of the nation’s “revo-loo-tion” to improve the hygiene of public conveniences after numerous complaints from tourists about unsanitary and poor-quality facilities. Fujian will also refurbish an additional 575 toilet blocks.
GANSU
Death fall hurts bystander
A woman suffered critical injuries when she was struck by a man as he fell to his death after leaping from the 28th floor of a block of flats, the Southern Metropolis News reports. The woman, 32, a resident of the flats in Lanzhou, was injured just as she left the building. The dead man, in his 30s, had reportedly committed suicide and been involved in a serious car accident before the Lunar New Year.
Endangered turtle inquiry
Gansu provincial authorities are investigating claims that a seafood store in Lanzhou has been keeping endangered sea turtles in a tank for the entertainment of customers, the Lanzhou Morning Post reports. The store owner claimed the turtles were not kept for sale or eating – only for passers-by to admire, according to the report.
GUANGDONG
Fine for divorce court slap
A man has been fined 5,000 yuan for slapping his wife across the face during their bitter divorce court hearing, news portal Ycwb.com reports. The court in Zhongshan imposed the penalty on the husband for obstruction and disrupting civil court proceedings. The man had slapped the woman as he walked past her after giving evidence at the hearing, the report said.
‘Child rapist’ held
Police have detained a 59-year-old man on suspicion of raping a four-year-old girl, the Southern Metropolis News reports. The man allegedly broke into a house in Huizhou and then raped the child twice, while she had been left alone for the day by her parents. Police were alerted after the child’s parents returned home and discovered the suspect sleeping in their bed, the report said.
HEILONGJIANG
Naked fury
A 50-year-old woman, who stripped off in front of a man on their first date, angrily demanded money from him for looking at her naked and then called the police after he criticised her figure and told her he did not want to see her again, China Youth Daily reports. The man, 62, had met the woman on an online dating website. Nangang district police managed to placate the woman by telling the man to pay her 5 yuan bus fare home, the report said.
Family reunion hopes
A homeless man is on a quest to find his parents, who he has not seen for 17 years, news website Chinajilin.com.cn reports. Li Liguo, 36, said his father had been a violent man, and he never went back after he left home to find work. He said he now felt guilty about losing contact with his parents, who had since moved away from their old home, according to the report.
JIANGSU
‘Gift’ from Good Samaritan
A Good Samaritan handed a young woman’s new iPhone 6 in to police after she had angrily thrown away the gift during a lovers’ tiff, the Modern Express reports. A woman and her boyfriend, both from Nanjing, forgot about retrieving the phone, which was later picked up by an elderly woman who was walking past. When their argument was over, the couple remembered the missing phone, which they were able to recover after contacting the police.
Time really is money
A 24-year-old entrepreneur selling “time” is already celebrating the success of his e-commerce business launched on Monday, the news website Jschina.com.cn reports. Liu Jiang, of Suzhou, said more than 20 people had already signed up for his service, called Time Workshop. He said people were happy to pay him to find someone else to queue up on their behalf to buy or collect items. He came up with the idea after becoming frustrated while forced to stand in line for 90 minutes during a holiday in Thailand.
SHAANXI
Murder suspect detained
Police have arrested a man suspected of killing a wealthy Xian couple and their three-year-old child two weeks ago after robbing them of credit cards and just 500 yuan in cash, Xinhua reports. The dismembered bodies of the family were discovered packed inside two suitcases. Shaanxi police said the suspect, Li Pu, had allegedly admitted stabbing the family. The report also claimed that he said he reluctantly killed the child to stop its cries attracting attention while he cut up the parents’ bodies.
Policeman saves boy’s life
A policeman saved the life of a teenage middle school pupil who tried to kill himself by drinking rat poison, Chinese Business Morning View reports. The policeman, named Liu Zhi, spotted the boy sitting weeping in the street, with an empty bottle of poison beside him, as he drove to work in Feng county. Liu rushed the pupil to hospital to get his stomach pumped. The boy, who is now recovering, said he was upset after doing poorly at school and disappointing his parents.
