Around the nation: Pig 'prays' at temple
Also: Man has surgery to look like idol, Lei Feng; ambulance trapped in traffic for 12 hours
ZHEJIANG
Devout pig
A pig appeared outside a Buddhist temple in Yongjia county, Wenzhou in what appeared to be a pose of praying on the last day of a Dharma Assembly ceremony, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The pig stayed in the pose for a long time and refused to leave until a senior monk chanted scriptures to it. Photos posted online amazed some internet users, while others claimed the animal was suffering from a vitamin E deficiency. The pig's owner, unfortunately, slaughtered the animal that night but later expressed regret when he learned the animal may have been holy.
Red packet mania
About 240 million online red envelops were sent through Alipay on the eve of Lunar New Year, worth about 4 billion yuan (HK$5 billion) in total, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. A man from Hangzhou sent more than 60,000 virtual red envelopes, worth 260,000 yuan, the paper said. Online commentators said he was the most generous man this holiday season. Online red envelopes are a recent online innovation.
A 47-year-old man in Feidong county drowned in a cesspit while using the toilet after drinking excessively at a new year banquet, the reports. His family and friends went to look for him when he did not return to the table. They found him in the toilet, face down in excrement. Police ruled out foul play.
After three rounds of plastic surgery, Zhang Yidong, 33, has successfully made himself look like Lei Feng , the PLA soldier upheld by Mao Zedong as a role model of altruism and modesty for the nation, the reports. He also posted photos of himself online wearing in an old PLA uniform. Zhang said he adored Lei and all he stood for, but internet users have questioned whether his real motivation was to make himself famous, which Zhang denied.
A man in Haidian district kept three black pigs outside his apartment block over Lunar New Year, but the smell raised complaints from other residents, the reports. Urban management inspectors convinced the man to demolish the temporary pigsty and get rid of the animals.
A couple are recovering after they fell through ice while taking a shortcut home across a frozen river in Miyun county, the reports. When rescuers arrived, the man was lying on the ice, exhausted and soaked in icy water, while the woman was still in the water. Both were rescued within minutes.
A Shenzhen sanitation worker has spent the past 13 lunar new years cleaning city streets, the reports. The 49-year-old woman works from 4am to 7pm. She has refused pleas from relatives in Sichuan to retire. Her husband moved to Shenzhen to be a sanitation worker four years ago so they could live together, and her children have found jobs there as well.
A 38-year-old man died at work during the Lunar New Year at a garment factory in Haizhu district, Guangzhou, the reports. Neighbours found his body after he had been missing for several days. He had volunteered to guard the factory because he couldn't afford to go home for the holiday.
A 78-year-old grandmother made what appeared to be an impromptu appeal to her unmarried granddaughter to find a husband during a Lunar New Year banquet, the reports. Bursting into tears, the grandmother told her 27-year-old granddaughter, Fang, that she did not want to die without seeing her married. Fang was quite moved - until she overheard her grandmother asking her mother if it was a good piece of acting. Fang nevertheless said she should start thinking about marriage soon.
A Wuhan professor has been missing since leaving a hospital where he was a patient during the Lunar New Year, the reports. He was last seen about five days ago near a bridge over the Yangtze River. Before leaving the hospital, he messaged his wife saying he didn't want to suffer anymore, and asked her to visit him every Ching Ming festival, or grave-sweeping day. Police are continuing their search.
A millionaire in Nanjing has continued to work as a security guard at a residential compound because he doesn't want others to know that he had received a large payout when his home was demolished, the reports. The man, who was previously poor, said neighbours and relatives started teasing him about his wealth. Fed up, he decided to find a job so he could show he could support himself like anyone else.
Police rushed to a flat in Nanjing after a screaming and crying child phoned the 110 emergency number then hung up. When they arrived at the home, the parents were completely surprised. They discovered two children were playing hide and seek when the younger one phoned police. Police gave the family a stern lecture.
A Xian man in 50s is recovering after he collapsed under the table while playing mahjong for three days, the reports. The man lived alone, but as his son was travelling during the holiday, he decided to spend the time playing mahjong with friends, taking short breaks for sleeping and eating. He was taken to hospital and recovered quickly. Last week, a Hubei man nearly lost his leg from severely restricted blood circulation after playing mahjong for 24 hours.
A woman in her 40s jumped into a river and drowned in Xian after arguing over family issues and financial problems with two men, the reports. Witnesses said the woman leaped into the river when the men turned away to make phone calls. The crowd called police immediately but when firefighters arrived the woman was already dead. Police are investigating.
A doctor in an ambulance shouted hundreds of times through a loudspeaker for vehicles on a highway to make way in the emergency lane, the reports. The journey, which would normally take an hour, lasted 12 hours. The doctor was accompanying three car accident victims from Xichang to Chongqing . The victims' families want drivers who refused to move aside to be prosecuted. Police are examining photos and video of about 40 vehicles.
A family's holiday was ruined when the 58-year-old father got a fishbone stuck in his oesophagus and was unable to find a hospital that could perform a gastroscopy during the Lunar New Year. Relatives tried to help the father with some traditional methods, but they only made him more uncomfortable. They went first to the county hospital, a city hospital, and later the two major provincial hospitals in Chengdu , only to be told to wait until doctors had returned to work after the holiday. Hospitals claimed that the procedure was not categorised as emergency treatment.
