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ZHEJIANG
Coma? I’ll drink to that
A man in Yiwu who drank two litres of liquor at a business dinner required two weeks of hospital treatment after suffering a gastric perforation and falling into a coma, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The man, 23, was taken to hospital after he began vomiting uncontrollably and spitting out blood. After arriving at hospital he fell into the coma and was treated with a series of blood transfusions. His family have vowed to stop him drinking.
Con victim turns arsonist
A man enraged at losing 8,000 yuan in life savings to a pyramid scheme set fire to a shoe factory in Wenzhou, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. A court convicted the man, 27, of arson and sentenced him to 11 years in jail. It ordered him to pay 110,000 yuan in compensation.
 
BEIJING
Old man dies in ditch
A man, 79, who was suffering from senile dementia, died in a ditch one week after becoming disoriented and lost near his home in Chaoyang district, the Beijing News reports. The man, who had wandered into the neighbouring Tongzhou district, died despite having been noticed by passers-by and sent to the police station on two occasions. Tongzhou police failed to find a note in his pocket with his family’s contact details. It was noticed during an autopsy, which determined that the man had frozen to death.
Theme park work to start
Construction of a 2 million square metre Universal Studios theme park will begin in Tongzhou district this year, Xinhua reports, citing the district’s annual government work report. The park, approved by the central authorities in September, is forecast to attract investment of 50 billion yuan (HK$62 billion) and is scheduled for completion in 2019. It will feature a retail and entertainment complex and the world’s first Universal-themed resort hotel.
 
CHONGQING
Nip-and-tuck tourism
Plastic surgery tourism trips to South Korea are growing in popularity among Chongqing residents, about 1,000 of whom travelled to the country for operations last year, the Chongqing Morning Post reports. Most travelled with tourist groups, according to one travel agent, who said that some agencies were offering sightseeing trips tailored towards guests who would be receiving plastic surgery during their visit. An industry insider said most opted for facial operations, which cost at least 20,000 yuan.
Trains delayed … to 2017
A property developer erected a bogus light railway sign near its project in the northern suburbs to lure people into buying homes there, the Chongqing Morning Post reports. Believing a new rail station had been built, many residents began searching for it, only to find that while a station was indeed planned, it was not scheduled to begin operation until 2017.
 
GANSU
Bronze price tempts gang
Rising bronze prices tempted a gang of eight to steal 12 bronze sculptures worth more than 150,000 yuan from across Yumen city, the Western Economic Daily reports. Police captured the gang after finding eight of the sculptures in a waste collection station late last month.
Love can rust a bridge
About 30 padlocks have been fastened to the Zhongshan Bridge across the Yellow River by amorous couples eager to display their love, Xinhua reports. Officials said workers had been sent to remove the padlocks but they kept reappearing. They fear the padlocks will cause the 106-year-old bridge to rust.
 
GUANGDONG
Couple’s home demolished
The home of an elderly couple in Guangzhou was demolished while they were away, the newspaper Xinxi Shibao reports. The couple, in their eighties, had earlier rejected the demolition company’s compensation offer of 5,000 yuan. All their belongings were destroyed. The couple, who had lived there 20 years, are suing the company.
Stabbed in head for purse
A woman in the Nanhai district of Foshan was stabbed by a robber after she refused to give up her purse, the Foshan Daily reports. The woman had been playing with her phone while waiting at a bus stop when the robber confronted her, then stabbed her repeatedly in the head and hands. Witnesses called an ambulance and the woman, bleeding heavily, was taken to hospital where doctors saved her. The police are searching for the robber.
 
SHAANXI
Poisoner is 4th time lucky
A woman in Yulin has been detained on suspicion of poisoning her abusive husband, after three unsuccessful attempts, Shaanxi Radio Television reports. She allegedly killed him by mixing pesticide into his dinner last month. She married the man after divorcing her first husband, with whom she had four children. She told police that her second husband often beat her children.
Detergent burns toddler
A toddler and her grandfather suffered burns to their faces when the old man, holding the girl in his arms, fell on to a floor that was being cleaned with a strong detergent in a restaurant in Hanzhong, the Huashang Daily reports. The girl’s grandmother also suffered burns to her face when she lifted her up and the girl’s wet clothes touched her face. All three, who were attending a wedding banquet, were sent to hospital.
 
SHANGHAI
Cabbies seek fair fare
All the money generated from taxi fare rises in the city will benefit drivers and not their companies, Xinmin.cn reports, citing transport officials. Shanghai taxi drivers have complained that they are struggling to make ends meet as too much of their takings must go to their companies. According to the municipal federation of trade unions, Shanghai taxi drivers made an average of 22 yuan per hour in 2013, which was below the municipal workers’ average.
Rare deer rarer still
Three rare deer released into a forest in Songjiang district were found dead over the weekend, two of them with bite marks on their throats, Xinmin.cn reports. Researchers who found the Chinese water deer suspect they died of fright or dog bites. The deer were among 10 released into a 12-hectare conservation area in December in an effort to reintroduce the species, which once lived in Shanghai but disappeared over a century ago.
 
YUNNAN
Firearms go up in fire
Police in Tengchong spent 15 hours destroying five trucks’ worth of guns and ammunition that were confiscated last year, the Spring City Evening News reports. Officers incinerated and buried more than 1,600 guns, detonated 4.8 tonnes of explosives and discharged about 38,000 bullets.
Foreigners’ high Aids rate
Foreigners last year accounted for more than 60 per cent of all Aids patients in Yunnan province’s Dehong prefecture, which borders Myanmar, China Youth Daily reports. In some counties, the rate could be more than 80 per cent, the prefecture’s deputy governor told a meeting on the weekend. He called for funds to control and prevent the disease among foreigners, but did not reveal the total number of Aids patients in the prefecture, which has a population of more than 1.2 million.


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China society

Around the nation: Man drinks himself into coma at business dinner

A man in Yiwu who drank two litres of liquor at a business dinner suffered a gastric perforation and lapsed into a coma. Photo: Bloomberg

Around the nation: Phone scammer took millions from rural elderly over five years

Two homeless men in Hefei, which saw snow at the weekend,  asked a local shelter to buy them rail tickets to tropical Hainan to spend the winter. Photo: Xinhua

Around the nation: three dead, 10 injured in Guangzhou bus crash

Three people died when a bus crashed on the way from Guangzhou to Leizhou. Photo: SCMP Pictures

News

China Insider