China Digest, November 24, 2012
A 29-year-old Hubei native and his two-year-old were stable and recovering at a Beijing military hospital after undergoing the nation's first father-and-son liver transplant for patients of different blood types, reports. The boy was diagnosed with blocked bile ducts in June and required a transplant to save his life, but his mother, who has the same blood type, refused to donate her liver and fled. The father persuaded the hospital to perform the surgery with him in hope of a "surprise success".
Five people died and two others were injured in a five-car pile-up on a Fuzhou city expressway, Xinhua reports. The crash happened around 9.15am yesterday when a fully loaded truck lost control and hit four vehicles on the Shenyang-Haikou Expressway. Two passengers suffered minor injuries and were sent to hospital for treatment. Traffic had resumed by around noon. The cause is under investigation.
A heavily indebted woman has been avoiding creditors by hiding out in a police station for nearly two weeks, the reports. The woman went missing last year after borrowing 160,000 yuan from five people. Creditors found the woman at a Nanshan district internet cafe this month and took her to the police station. The woman has since refused to leave, arguing she has no money to pay the debts and is in personal danger.
Shenzhen police have installed cameras to monitor 49 busy road sites after a series of crashes involving dump trucks resulted in several deaths last month, the reports. Police recorded more than 400 violations on Tuesday alone, with 248 involving truck drivers failing to stay in the proper lane. Police hope the cameras will prevent drivers from violating the law when officers are not on duty.
Frustrated by repeat reports of short-changing by a Suzhou city grocery store, police have posted a noticeboard outside the business warning customers to beware of dishonesty, the reports. Numerous people have complained about clerks at the Huijia store, but officers have struggled to collect sufficient evidence or found the sums involved too insignificant to justify charges. Police asked the market administrator to revoke the store's licence but have so far received no response.
Shaanxi police have arrested a chef wanted for murdering his colleague in Qingdao, four years ago, the reports. The suspect reportedly stabbed a fellow chef to death in March 2008 after the victim repeatedly mocked his cooking skills. The man had spent the past four years hiding in several provinces including Guangdong, Guizhou , Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan .
The Shanghai No1 Intermediate People's Court has sentenced a 53-year-old to death with a two-year reprieve for killing his elderly mother during a dispute over their housing-relocation compensation, the reports. The man hit his mother on the head with a hammer while she was sleeping on February 16 and fled to neighbouring Zhejiang province. The pair had been fighting in court over compensation they received after their Minhang district houses were razed in 2009.
More than half of Shanghai people say they seldom read because of their busy lifestyles, and for those who do, it is to acquire knowledge, for leisure or out of job necessity, the portal says. The magazine surveyed 485 readers at Shanghai City of Books. It found nearly half of them said they read two to three books each month, and 40 per cent said they read for more than five hours. Some preferred getting information from the internet, but resorted to in-depth content from traditional books.
Hangzhou overcame numerous engineering challenges to officially open its first subway line yesterday, the reports. The Y-shaped Metro Line 1 connects 31 stations over 48 kilometres, and will carry passengers between the northern and southern ends of the city in less than 70 minutes. Work on the line, which crosses several bodies of water, began in 2007 and cost about 22 billion yuan.
