Quanzhou has set up a restroom where sanitation workers can take breaks, China National Radio reports. The facility on Aiguo Road is just two square metres, with a water boiler, induction stove, washing basin, chairs and an electric fan. Previously, cleaners took their breaks along the street. The city plans to build more such restrooms.

A 26-year-old mother had an emotional reunion with her twin boys in Nanan city on Tuesday, a year after they were sold by their father following their birth, the reports. They were sold for 50,000 yuan each while the mother was unconscious after childbirth. The father was detained for human trafficking.

The province gave city-level governments approval rights yesterday for 41 types of projects, including production of grain, oil, vegetables and fruit, with budgets of less than 500 million yuan, in an effort to reduce bureaucratic red tape, the reports. However, all energy-intensive projects must still be reviewed by the provincial government.

Several cities in the province, including Guangzhou, Yangjiang and Qingyuan , have failed to honour promises to construct public parks and green spaces, the reports. Some of the projects, including those planned by Yangjiang in 2001, have been indefinitely suspended because of a lack of funds. Many of the undeveloped sites have turned into wasteland.

The deputy mayor of Beihai appeared in court on Monday to respond to litigation by residents over a land dispute. His presence was hailed as a move to help ease tensions and reduce conflicts between the public and government, as officials don't usually attend such hearings, the reports.

Zhangjiakou was hit hard by a rare cold snap last week, China National Radio reports, when the temperature fell to minus 3 degrees Celsius - the lowest for that time of year in 50 years. Corn, potato and bean harvests were damaged, resulting in at least 300 million yuan in economic losses.

A pavilion featuring more than 250,000 badges with images of former chairman Mao Zedong will open next month in Baoding , China News Service reports. Collected over 30 years by Shao Guowang, director of the Boye county education bureau, they range from about 1cm in diameter to 30cm and are made of aluminium, iron, porcelain, wood, bamboo or even sponges.

Shaoshan city will begin offering free schooling for high school students in September, Xinhua reports. All 1,300 high school students in the city will no longer be required to pay the 1,000-yuan tuition fee each semester, but they still must pay for expenses such as books.

Jingdezhen officials denied an online rumour that nine kidneys had been stolen from patients at Xinhua Hospital, including during childbirth, and that the hospital director had been detained in connection with the alleged thefts, China News Service reports. Local police said they had detained two people for illegally selling kidneys this year, but no public hospitals in the city were involved.

Fuzhou police said this week they had detained 14 people in connection with a shooting on July 23 that left four people injured, the reports. Police discovered the gunman had plotted with seven others to shoot a man he had quarrelled with, but then shot the wrong people. The other six people detained allegedly helped cover up the shooting.

The families of eight people killed in a car accident on a highway in Guangan on Sunday were offered compensation by the city government yesterday, 250,000 yuan for each victim, the reports. A total of 12 people died when a minivan crashed into a truck, but no compensation was offered to the family of the minivan driver and his three relatives who also died.

Residents of three villages in Guangyuan say they were ordered to "donate" at least 100 yuan for construction of a bridge because officials said there was still a 1 million yuan shortfall for the 12 million yuan project, the reports. Local authorities, however, denied that the donation was mandatory.