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SCMP Reporter

Anhui
'Love capital' ambitions
Huaining county has allocated 2.7 billion yuan (HK$3.3 billion) for a cultural industrial zone to help establish the area as "China's love capital", anhuinews.com reports. Local authorities cited the county's role as the setting of the classic ballad The Peacocks Fly Southeast. The two star-crossed lovers who commit suicide in the 1,800-year-old poem are said to be buried in the county.
Hefei residents happiest
Anhui's capital, Hefei , has beat out 32 other cities to be named the happiest in the mainland, according to a survey by the Beijing-based China Public Economy Institute and the Chinese Academy of Governance, the Anhui Business News reports. The city's ranking was driven up by low- and middle-income residents who scored an 80 out of 100 on the researchers' "happiness index". The city's wealthy scored a 20.
Henan
'Forgo hepatitis B checks'
Citing discrimination fears, a university student from Zhengzhou has sent letters to more than 300 kindergartens in Henan , Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, asking them to forgo mandatory hepatitis B checks, chinanews.com reports. Some parents complain that teachers have been advising pupils to keep their distance from children who test positive.
Welfare centres by 2015
The Henan government has pledged that every county in the province will have at least one welfare centre by 2015, the Henan Business Daily reports. The province hopes to provide 360,000 beds at urban elderly centres across the province within the next three years.
Hubei
Yao Ming wins ad action
The provincial High Court has ordered Wuhan Yunhe Sportswear to pay former NBA superstar Yao Ming one million yuan for using his name in its advertisements without consent, the Chutian Gold News reports. A lower court had awarded Yao 300,000 yuan, but the Shanghai-born star argued it was too low.
Bureau chief slept on job
A bureau chief at Wuhan's Donghu New Technology Development Zone faces a discipline inquiry after he was caught sleeping on the job during a surprise inspection, the Wuhan Morning Post reports. While he slept, one of his subordinates was playing online games with his feet on his desk.
Fujian
Pay cut for lashing student
An Anxi county primary school teacher has had her pay slashed after she was found to have lashed a nine-year-old girl on the arms and legs with a stick, the Strait City Daily reports. The 50-year-old female teacher admitted she hit the girl for not finishing her homework. The girl's family discovered the injuries days later, after the girl woke up crying.
Risk to red-brick buildings
A community official in Jinmen county has sounded the alarm that more than 100 historic red-brick buildings are badly in need of restoration and repair, the West Strait Morning Post reports. The official, Zheng Shuizhong , said one such building collapsed in a heavy downpour this week. County authorities have allocated three million yuan for a restoration project, but it has yet to begin.
Gansu
Man stole from girlfriend
A man sentenced to 10 years for stealing 18,000 yuan from his sick girlfriend has appealed against his sentence, the Lanzhou Morning Post reports. He swiped her bank card when she was in hospital in late 2007 and used it to withdraw the money. The man was caught by police in May 2008.
Teachers to lift quality
Gansu education authorities have released a list of nearly 2,500 teachers selected to help improve quality at 44 improvised primary and middle schools over the next three years, the Lanzhou Morning Post reports. Their salaries will be sponsored by the central government. Some 1,854 of them have bachelor's degrees.
Jiangsu
Bike 'thief' was gay lover
Police investigating a stolen motorcycle report in Nanjing soon realised the "thief" was actually the 81-year-old owner's 34-year-old gay lover, jschina.com.cn reports. The older man gave the younger man the motorcycle as a gift, but the pair had a falling out. The younger man, a migrant worker, rode the bike to return to his wife and child in Anhui .
Urbanites love their pork
Jiangu's urban dwellers consumed 21kg of pork per capita last year, double the average consumption of farmers, people.com.cn reports. On average, people living in cities each ate 115kg of vegetables last year, while farmers ate 93kg, according to the provincial statistics bureau.
Shanghai
Rent tax to take effect
Starting in November, homeowners who lease their houses and flats will be required to report the rent and pay taxes if necessary, the Shanghai Youth Daily reports. Authorities are encouraging tenants to report landlords for failing to claim rent payments. Some landlords said they may raise rents when the regulation takes effect.
Woman jailed for kidnap
A woman has been sentenced to 15 months in jail for kidnapping an infant in a scheme to regain her ex-boyfriend, the Jiefang Daily reports. The woman told the Songjiang District Court that she told the man that he was the father of the baby boy. The man said he would have to look at the child first.
Tianjin
3 years for selling porn
A mobile phone store manager was sentenced to three years in jail for distributing pornographic content, enorth.com.cn reports. He was captured by police in November after charging a five yuan "download fee" for selling memory cards containing pornographic videos.
FDI boost for Tianjin
Tianjin has attracted US$8.3 billion in foreign direct investment in the first six months of this year, compared to US$5.28 billion in all of 2007, enorth.com.cn reports. Some 152 Fortune 500 companies have made investments in the city, more than four times the number five years ago.
Yunnan
Mother reports abuse
A Kunming mother has accused the principal of her son's kindergarten of scolding her after she reported a teacher's abuse of the boy, yunnan.cn reports. The mother said the teacher slapped the child so hard with a newspaper that his eye swelled. It was the second such incident in two months.
Teenagers stab taxi driver
Kunming police have arrested three boys, aged 13 to 17, on suspicion of killing an unlicensed cab driver on Monday, the Shenghuo Xinbao reports. The boys told police that they stabbed the driver more than 10 times to vent their frustration at being beaten up earlier that day. Two of them were caught at a karaoke bar. The youngest suspect has been released on bail.


China Digest, September 22, 2012

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