China Digest

BEIJING

Hospital tickets scam

Authorities arrested 83 people on suspicion that they hoarded queue tickets for two popular public hospitals in Dongcheng district and illegally sold them to patients desperate for a spot in line, the Beijing Morning Post reports. The suspects were detained as part of a crackdown that began last month.

Salon uses fake botox

The two owners of a beauty salon in Dongcheng district were arrested and accused of injecting fake botox into the faces of 20 customers, The Beijing News reports. They owners charged 1,500 yuan (HK$1,834) to 3,000 yuan per treatment even though the chemical they used only cost 25 yuan, the paper said. Police seized enough material to have provided another 41 injections.

FUJIAN

Mercedes for top teachers

The provincial government gave free Mercedes-Benz vans to 33 outstanding teachers from Fujian's primary schools, high schools and colleges ahead of national Teachers Day on September 10, longhoo.net reports. The province awarded vehicles to 66 outstanding teachers in 2004 and 2009.

PE teacher doesn't add up

A Fuzhou man complained to his daughter's primary school after learning that her mathematics teacher had taught physical education last semester, the Strait City Daily reports. The father was worried that an unqualified teacher would hurt the girl's performance. The teacher said his expertise was in mathematics and he only taught physical education because the school was short-handed.

GANSU

10 miners in shaft plunge

At least 10 coal miners fell into a 211-metre-deep mineshaft in Zhangye when a poorly equipped lift tipped over, China National Radio reports. In all, 19 miners were on the lift, but nine managed to hang on. Rescuers are searching for the missing.

Pranksters flood hotline

The emergency medical hotline in Gansu was flooded with more 17,000 prank calls last month - more than five times the 3,073 calls it received for genuine emergencies, the Western Economic Daily reports. One caller was found to have made nearly 3,000 bogus calls to the hotline in the past three months alone. But hotline operators said none of the prank callers had been punished.

GUANGDONG

Forger had US$1m notes

A man was caught by Shenzhen customs trying to enter Hong Kong carrying dozens of phoney US banknotes that he had doctored to look like they were worth US$1 million, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reports. The Shenzhen branch of the People's Bank of China said the man had simply copied one-dollar bills and added six zeros.

Nepotism ends in jail

A former senior official in Zhongshan's Personnel and Human Resources Bureau, Liang Guoying , was jailed for a year for colluding with four other former top officials to help her son get a government job, Xinhua reports. His exam score was increased so that he could qualify for an interview. The other four officials were either removed from their posts or punished by party disciplinary authorities.

HEILONGJIANG

Fraudsters face execution

Twenty-two people convicted of defrauding thousands of investors out of nearly 550 million yuan on a fake oilfield project were sentenced in Harbin People's Court to terms ranging from five years in jail to death, the Harbin Daily reports. The scam affected 6,536 people in 21 provinces between 2007 and 2010. Two men who received death penalties have appealed against the verdict.

Bird hunters shot down

A group of businessmen who took up hunting as a social activity have been arrested for killing tens of thousands of birds in Heilongjiang's Lindian county, China Environmental News reports. Police seized 11 guns and 4,000 bullets from the men.

HUNAN

Gutter oil seller jailed

A 50-year-old man was sentenced to two years in jail and fined 10,000 yuan by Ningxiang County People's Court in Changsha for making more than half a million tonnes of gutter oil and selling it to restaurants and retailers, the Sanxiang City Express reports. A retailer who bought 500kg of the oil - reprocessed kitchen waste -

was sentenced to one year in jail and fined 5,000 yuan.

River views at a hefty price

The price of luxury apartments with river views in Changsha has risen to about 20,000 yuan per square metre as the country's real estate market remains red hot, The Southern Metropolis News reports. The average resident earns between 3,000 yuan and 4,000 yuan a month.

JIANGSU

3,200 cars seized

Traffic police in Jiangsu seized more than 3,200 vehicles in a one-day campaign to crack down on drivers who illegally covered or replaced their cars' licence plates to evade punishment when violating traffic rules, the Legal Daily reports.

Marriage fee scrapped

Couples who tie the knot in Jiangsu from next year will no longer have to pay the local marriage-registration fee of nine yuan, the Modern Express reports. The province waived the fee to encourage marriage and improve social welfare. The province will also increase financial aid to needy households and hospital patients.

SHANGHAI

E-commerce up 30pc

Shanghai businesses brought in more than 550 billion yuan in e-commerce last year, an increase of nearly 30 per cent over the previous year, the Oriental Morning Post reports. The city, which accounts for 10 per cent of e-commerce nationwide, has committed 10 million yuan for each of the last two years to encourage e-commerce among small and medium-sized businesses.

Drink-driver in road rage

A Shanghai woman has been convicted for attacking a policeman during a traffic check in March, jcrb.com reports. She flew into a rage when the policeman tried to administer a breath test to determine if she had been drink-driving. She was accused of obstructing police duties and dangerous driving.

ZHEJIANG

Domain name seized

A Ningbo district court has seized the popular domain name of a heavily indebted IT company, the first time virtual property has been seized in Zhejiang , Xinhua reports. The firm faces claims totalling two million yuan from at least six companies. The domain name will auctioned off if it fails to repay its debts.

Young 'too busy to stay fit'

A Hangzhou government health survey found that seven in 10 residents below the age of 30 do not get enough exercise, while 68 per cent aged 60 or above are sufficiently active, Xinhua reports. Young people complained they work too hard and were unable to stay fit.