Guangdong

Killed in truck crash

A man driving a truck at a construction site in Dongguan has died after his vehicle crashed, the Southern Metropolis News reports. Land gave way under the truck and it fell into a pit. Another man inside the truck was not seriously injured. The report said the man sent his love to his wife and three children just before he died as he was trapped in his cab for several hours.

‘Bike ban supported’

A majority of people polled about a proposed ban on electric bikes in Guangzhou support the move, the Southern Daily reports. The newspaper surveyed 1,000 people and 43 per cent were in the favour, saying the bikes’ riders were a danger on the roads. Thirty-nine per cent of the people polled opposed the ban. Courier companies are against the move as they rely on electric bikes for deliveries. The city government announced details last week about the suggested ban on the sale and use of electric bikes.

Guangxi

Smoky dog meat row

People living in a residential block in Liuzhou say they cannot open their windows because of the smell from food stalls cooking dog meat wrapped in straw, the news website Chinanews.com reports. Residents said that even with the windows closed thick smoke still got into their homes. The stall owners said their dog meat tasted better cooked in straw. The local authorities have promised to look into the matter.

Cobra found in homes

A cobra was found in a residential block in Liuzhou that is being redecorated, the Nanguo Morning Post reports. Firefighters were called to catch the snake, which was about 1.5 metres long. It will be released back into the wild after health checks are carried out.

Jiangsu

Drugs gang busted

Eight suspected members of a drug gang have been arrested by the police in Lianyungang , the Modern Express reports. About 7.4kg of methamphetamine were seized along with a pistol and six bullets. Police said the drugs were worth 2 million yuan (HK$2.5 million). One suspect confronted police with a gun when officers went to a hotel to make arrests. He was detained without a shot fired.

Buddhism course

More than 3,500 people have applied for a four-day course in Buddhism at the Qixia Temple in Nanjing , the Modern Express reports. Fifty people were chosen for the free classes. The temple requires people attending to switch off their mobile phones for the four days, to go to bed early in the evening and get up early in the morning. They will practise meditation and eat a vegetarian diet.

Shandong

Scientists’ fruit crop stolen

Thieves have stolen all the apples on three trees that were being studied by scientists researching a new strain of the fruit, the Peninsula Metropolis Daily reports. The apples were taken from a farm owned by the Qingdao Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Researchers hope the new strain of apple will be more productive for farmers. The 150kg of fruit were taken in one evening.

Parents use child as spy

Parents of a three-year-old toddler in Zibo wired their child for sound so they could check on the teachers at their offspring’s new nursery school, the Luzhong Morning Post reports. Teachers found a running digital voice recorder in the pocket of the toddler. Parents admitted they were worried about their child starting kindergarten and wanted to check up on what happened in class. The report said the teachers were not impressed.

Shanghai

First dengue fever cases

The health authorities said three dengue fever cases were reported in the city last month, the first batch of patients affected by the disease in the metropolis this year, the Shanghai Morning Post reports. Beijing has reported 15 dengue fever cases this year, compared with over 36,000 cases in Guangdong. The infectious disease is spread by mosquito bites.

Dead man ignored on bus

A woman is suing a bus company in the Qingqpu district of the city after her husband died on one of their vehicles, but the driver did not call for help, the Shanghai Morning Post reports. The man had fainted and slumped on his seat, but the driver thought he was just drunk. Security footage shot inside the bus showed the driver kicking the passenger three separate times to see if he was awake. On each occasion he would then continue driving. Police checked on the man about 30 minutes later and found he was dead. The report did not mention the husband’s cause of death.

Yunnan

Dad stabs boy, 9

A villager in Zhenxiong county near Zhaotong stabbed his nine-year-old son to death, later telling the police he could not afford to raise him, the news website Yunnan.cn reports. The 39-year-old man has been unemployed for years. He shared a bed with the boy and was angry when his son wet himself one night last week. He threatened the boy with a knife and killed him.

University boss jailed

The former Communist Party boss at Yunnan Minzu University has been jailed for life for taking nearly 7.5 million yuan in bribes, the Yunnan Information Daily reports. Zhen Zhaodang, 57, is to appeal against the verdict handed down by the Intermediate People’s Court in Chuxiong prefecture. The authorities said he was the most senior education official in the province to accept bribes over the past three decades. He took the cash in return for giving building contracts at the university.

Zhejiang

Rescued from vice trade

Six young girls, aged between 12 and 14, were rescued by the police in Taizhou from a prostitution ring and sent back to their hometowns in Guizhou province, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. They were deceived into going to Zhejiang by a woman on the promise of making good money working there. The woman told them to pretend to be virgins and clients were charged 3,000 yuan to have sex with them. The woman has been detained by the police.

Train clocks not on time

Two clock towers at Chengzhan Railway Station in Hangzhou have been telling the wrong time for months and signs have had to be put up at their bases telling passengers to ignore them, the news website Zj.com reports. The railway authorities said they were planning to repair the clocks, but the work was expected to cost hundreds of thousands of yuan.