A village chief in Harbin used 970,000 yuan of his own money to buy two school buses for children in his village, reports. After village schools were closed, 93 students had to go to schools four kilometres away, but the village could not afford to buy buses. The chief said he was able to pay so much because he used to own a company before becoming chief of Shuguang village.

Zhaodong police have detained a school bus driver and his friend for allegedly raping a 13-year-old student, reports. Police said the driver lured the girl to an inn on November 30. Her parents called police after finding the girl the next day at the home of one of her classmates.

A 46-year-old doctor was so excited that his 80-year-old osteoporosis patient had recovered from a broken back, after seven months of treatment, that he gave her a big hug, breaking one of her ribs, reports. Through court mediation, the hospital has agreed to pay the woman's family 210,000 yuan in compensation.

A Zhengzhou court has ordered a man's ex-wife to pay him 10,000 yuan in compensation for mental distress he said he endured after discovering that the girl he had raised for 10 years was not his biological daughter, reports. The man took her for a paternity test in January, which confirmed his suspicions. He divorced his wife a month later and sued her.

Doctors mistakenly removed a woman's left breast after she was diagnosed with a benign tumour that was mistakenly referred to on her medical report as cancer, reports. The woman received a breast exam at a hospital in Wuhan, but there were no available beds for surgery, so she was referred to another hospital, which conducted the surgery without verifying the test results. A court ordered the diagnosing hospital to pay the woman 85 per cent of 150,000 yuan in compensation, and the other hospital had to pay the rest.

Residents expressed their confusion and dismay online after dozens of ginkgo trees disappeared over a few days along Beijingxi Road in Nanjing, reports. The municipal government said the 67 trees along the road were moved because of construction of a subway line, but added that they would be moved back after the work was completed. The government also said that a notice about the removal had been posted on the road.

Education authorities in Jiangdu district, Yangzhou, have ordered a local kindergarten to refund an 80-yuan "quality education fee" that it charged each student. Several parents complained online that the fee was for hugs that the children received when they entered and left the kindergarten, reports. Education authorities said that all fees that were not approved by pricing authorities would be considered illegal.

Seven people were detained in Huanglong county, Yanan, on Saturday for distributing leaflets saying that the end of world was near, reports. Several bus passengers were given the leaflets, one of whom called police because he had read in newspapers that rumours of an apocalypse weren't supported by any scientific evidence.

Xianyang police have detained 12 thugs who attacked doctors and vandalised a hospital three times between September and October, reports. The hospital management has accused the property developer of trying to force them to leave the building so it could be razed to make way for new development. The hospital signed a 20-year lease for the building in 2005 and invested about 20 million yuan at the site, but the developer has asked them to move and offered to pay 1.4 million yuan in compensation. The provincial governor has ordered a police investigation after three doctors were injured and medical equipment was damaged.

Three workers were killed when a four-storey clothing factory collapsed on Monday, reports. The building in Minhang district was undergoing renovations when it suddenly toppled in the afternoon. Eight people escaped and three bodies were pulled from the rubble.

Tobacco regulatory authorities have issued 496,000 yuan in fines to 257 public venues and 87 people in the 2-1/2 years since smoking was banned in public places, reports. A team of volunteers helps enforce the regulation by telling people not to smoke and by reporting violators.

Four people died and another was injured when a driving-school car crashed head-on into a truck on a highway in Pingchang county, Bazhong, reports. The car driver, however, was not a student, but the instructor. He had more than 10 years of driving experience, but no teaching credentials. He was bringing four students to a site where they were to be tested for their driving licence. It was unclear which of the five people in the car survived. Police detained the truck driver.