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ANHUI
Burning greed unfulfilled
A man who tried to steal money from five cash machines by burning them has been jailed for four years and fined 3,000 yuan (HK$3,800) in Hefei , the Anhui Commercial Daily reports. The jobless 31-year-old set fire to an automatic teller machine in May, thinking he could take money from it. Only the plastic cover was damaged. After four similar attempts, he was caught in June, having destroyed about 15,000 yuan in cash.
Girl’s lucky escape
A 17-year-old girl caused a scare at a train station in Fuyang on Saturday by climbing on top of a train and getting very close to high-voltage power lines, the Yingzhou Evening News reports. She told police she had argued with her mother and wanted to go away to find her father, but could not afford a train ticket. Had she touched the cables she would have been killed instantly.
 
HENAN
Jackpot for hot pot
A hot pot shop in Zhengzhou is offering a million-yuan reward to any customer who can prove the eatery uses stale oil, Zynews.com.cn reports. The shop has fixed to a wall a clear box containing the reward in neat stacks of 100 yuan notes.
Saved from icy river
A 36-year-old man dived into the icy four-metre-deep Ying River to rescue an elderly woman, Dahe Daily reports. The man, an irrigation official, was inspecting the river with his colleagues when they saw the woman floating face up in the river. Realising that she was still alive, the official removed his shirt and dived into the freezing water. The woman, 67, was on her way to meet her husband, who farms by the river, when she fell in.
 
HUBEI
Taking it on the jaw
A 24-year-old woman in Wuhan dislocated her lower jaw after bingeing on pig’s trotter soup for three days over the new year, the Wuhan Evening News reports. The woman read online that trotters were good for the complexion. A doctor who treated her said the hospital gets similar cases every year.
Bringing home the alpaca
Two Harvard graduates plan to introduce alpaca products to China when they return home to Wuhan in May, News.cnhubei.com reports. The irresistibly cute animals, which are related to camels but are native to South America, have become immensely popular in China. The name in Putonghua sounds like “grass mud horse”, a fictional creature that looks like an alpaca and which sounds close to an obscene phrase. Qin Kou and a fellow Chinese student plan to import alpaca meat – said to be low in cholesterol – and eventually live alpacas, to China. They also plans to sell alpaca sock puppets and alpaca woollen products.
 
JIANGSU
Baby’s blanket ignited
A 3-month-old baby and his 3-year-old sister were seriously burnt in Suzhou when a blow-dryer ignited a blanket, the Yangtse Evening Post reports. The girl was drying her feet and socks while sitting at the foot of a bed where the baby was sleeping. The blanket caught fire and ignited the baby’s clothes. The mother rushed them both to hospital. The baby survived although a doctor said his case was the worst seen at the hospital burns unit. The girl suffered serious burns to one leg.
Cranes ‘eat wheat crop’
Farmers in Yancheng say endangered cranes have eaten more than 100 hectares of wheat, China National Radio reports. A group of 15 farmers said endangered red-crowned cranes and protected common cranes nest close to their fields, causing crop losses worth more than 800,000 yuan. A local agriculture official said there had been damage, but not nearly as much as the farmers claimed.
 
SHANDONG
Fake pharmacist jailed
A man who illegally made and sold medicine has been jailed for 14 years in Heze and fined 100,000 yuan, Dzwww.com reports. The man made about 900,000 yuan in two years making and selling painkillers and supplements, some of which the court said were toxic.
Kidnapper arrested
A man who held an 11-year-old boy for a 400,000 yuan ransom last month has been arrested in Rizhao , the Qilu Evening News reports. The man lured the boy into his car while he was waiting for his mother outside an English tutorial centre. He then texted the mother asking for the money in cash. Police located his home the next day and arrested him. He said he had debts of about 200,000 yuan.
 
SHANGHAI
Rail ban on fold-up bikes
Folding bicycles have been banned on trains in the municipality, Xinmin.cn reports. The move was put in place ahead of the Lunar New Year travel season next month to avoid injuring passengers on crammed trains. The railway operator was offering another service to send cyclists’ bikes to their destination, according to the report.
Driving a bomb
Two men were caught by police in Jiading district for carrying 15 tonnes of counterfeit fireworks in a truck, the Labour Daily reports. Traffic police stopped the vehicle for speeding on a highway, and found the products with the logo of a fireworks company. The products were later found to be counterfeit.
 
SICHUAN
‘Phlegm’ in drink
A man in Nanchong says he still feels nauseous after drinking a bottle of herbal tea contaminated with a phlegm-like substance, despited being treated in hospital, Cnncw.cn reports. The bottle has a glob of a yellow, sticky substance floating near the top. After taking two sips from the bottled tea, the man had a stomachache and checked into hospital. Doctors pumped his stomach and hooked him to an IV drip, but he said he still did not feel well. The 42-year-old contacted the local distributor for the drink, only to be told that the person was no longer the agent. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce will investigate the incident.
Rare snow leopard spotted
Wildlife cameras detected snow leopards in Sichuan on New Year’s Eve, Xinhua reports. The provincial forestry department said the new sightings in the Wolong National Nature Reserve showed that snow leopards were active in a larger area of the reserve than was thought. The snow leopard is a rare endangered species, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that China is home to about 2,500 of the big cats out of a global population of between 4,000 to 6,000.
 
ZHEJIANG
Best plan ruined
A man in Wenzhou had his driving licence suspended for six months and was fined 2,000 yuan for drink driving, Zjol.com.cn reports. When police pulled over the man, they also found a passenger, a man in a suit, who had been hired to drive the man home, but had been ordered out of the driver’s seat for driving too slowly.
Laptop miscalculation
A young man was detained in Jinhua after he tried to resell two laptops he stole from his colleagues after their first day working together, Zjol.com.cn reports. He began working for a club late last month, but was not happy with his wages, so he took away the unattended computers in the room he shared with workmates after his first day on the job. He tried to resell them on his WeChat account, unaware that his customer was an undercover policeman.
 


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China society

Around the nation: Harvard graduates see big future for alpacas in China

Qin Kou wants to run his alpaca empire from his home town, Wuhan. Photo: SCMP Pictures

News

China Insider

A man who tried to steal money from five cash machines by burning them has been jailed for four years and fined 3,000 yuan (HK$3,800) in Hefei , the Anhui Commercial Daily reports.
