Source:
https://scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1662970/around-nation-ex-gymnast-make-his-return-street-performer
China Insider

Around the nation: Ex-gymnast make his return – as street performer

Also, 'sanitary pads' for men that's good for the prostate and thrill-seeking diners get more than they bargained for as sky lounge's glass floor cracks

Former gymnastics champion Zhang Shangwu is back performing stunts on the streets - this time in the Shanghai subway. Photo: SCMP Pictures

BEIJING

‘Sanitary pads’ for men

A manufacturer of health-care products has designed a “sanitary napkin for men” that it claims can cure prostate inflammations, CCTV reports. The napkin comes with a chip that releases negatively charged ions to heal those afflicted with swollen, inflamed prostates, the firm said. It has also designed a shoe pad that it claims can cure heart disease.

Bogus walnuts

A street vendor has been exposed for selling fake antique walnuts, The Beijing News reports. Urban management officers found him selling the walnuts – a popular collectible – at 200 yuan (HK$253) a pair without antique certification. The paint on the nuts was faded and had seeped into the cloth they were wrapped in. The officers cracked open one and found a plastic ball inside.

 

HENAN

Traffic police imposter

A 27-year-old man has been detained for posing as a traffic police officer and collecting fines from drivers in Zhengzhou, Dahe Daily reports. Police found the man, dressed in police uniform, at a crossing, stopping all non-local trucks and imposing fines on them. One victim said the man did not say why he was being fined but demanded 100 yuan from him.

Extravagant denial

A detective chief from Ningling county has denied online accusations of indulging in extravagance, the Southern Metropolis Daily reports. Ningling police had earlier posted on Weibo a picture of him speaking at a meeting. Internet users pointed out that he was using a Montblanc pen, wearing a Burberry T-shirt and holding a Vertu luxury phone. The detective chief clarified that his wife had bought him the T-shirt for less than 100 yuan and he used a Samsung phone.

 

HUBEI

Search for lost phone

A woman who lost her phone on a bus in Wuhan insisted on having all passengers searched before they could alight, Xinhua reports. The woman called the police and asked them to search the bags and pockets of all the bus passengers. Half of the passengers refused as it intruded on their privacy; the others were searched but nothing was found.

Meal for thrills

Diners at Wuhan’s first sky lounge – a glass compartment suspended in the air by a crane – had a brush with death when a corner of the glass floor cracked, Cnhubei.com reports. Eight diners were having lunch in the sky lounge when a camera hanging above the table fell to the floor and caused it to crack. No one was injured. The lounge owner said there was no danger as all diners had to wear a safety belt attached to the crane.

 

QINGHAI

Killed and burned

A woman forced into prostitution was killed, dismembered and her corpse burned outside a courthouse in Xining after she tried to escape from the foot massage centre she was bound to, Qinghai Television reports. Security guards at the court called the police after they found human feet among the ashes. Initial investigations showed the 25-year-old had been beaten to death by her colleagues under their boss’ order.

Motorist’s balancing act

A motorist in Huangyuan county was detained after he overloaded his three-wheeled motorcycle with six primary school pupils, Qhnews.com reports. Police acted on a tip-off from a primary school. They stopped the motorist shortly after he left the school with the six pupils onboard. The pupils’ parents had paid the man to take the children home after school because they did not have the time to do it themselves, the report said.

 

SHANGHAI

‘Wi-fi thief’ app robbed

A popular smartphone application that steals Wi-fi passwords had its database stolen by a rival app developer, the Shanghai Morning Post reports. The Shanghai-based firm, which collects and shares public Wi-fi passwords, found its database of over a million passwords hacked into by external users. The stolen data – worth about a million yuan – was traced to a Nanjing-based IT firm, whose owner admitted he stole the data to develop a similar app. The owner and six employees were detained.

Gymnast back on streets

A former gymnastics champion has returned to performing stunts on the street for money, People.com.cn reports. Zhang Shangwu, who won the men’s rings final in the 2001 Universiade, retired in 2003 after he broke his Achilles’ tendon. In 2011, a tycoon gave him a job after finding him begging in Beijing, but Zhang has since quit. Photos online showed Zhang performing a headstand in the Shanghai subway. He also made headlines a few years ago when he sold his Universiade gold medal for just 100 yuan.

 

SICHUAN

Pregnant teen’s leap

A pregnant teenager leapt off a bridge into a river after a fight with her boyfriend on Sunday, Newssc.org reports. After she jumped, the boy went into the water and pulled her to shore. The girl, who is two months pregnant, was not hurt.

Toddler left behind

A couple left their three-year-old son in a taxi after an argument on their way home, the Chengdu Business Herald reports. The driver waited over an hour for the parents to return before taking the child to a nearby police station, but the boy was too young to tell the officers where he lived. When the father went to the same station to report the missing child 20 hours later, the officers were just about to transfer the boy to an orphanage. It turned out that the couple each thought the other had taken their son home.

 

SHANDONG

Catch of the day

Fishermen from Jiaozhou city have caught a giant deep-sea fish of an unknown species, the China News Service reports. The 50kg, 1.46-metre creature, which was caught in Jiaozhou Bay, was stored at a market in Qingdao because no one knew how to price the fish.

Nurses all booked

All private maternity nurses in Zibo city have been booked until March because parents want their babies to be born in the auspicious Year of the Horse, Qilu Evening News reports. Maternity nurses’ pay in Zibo has risen to 6,000 yuan. A nursing agency owner said nurses had to be booked at least a month in advance.

 

ZHEJIANG

Drunk teen goes missing

A 19-year-old girl who has been missing since Thursday was last seen drunk and taking a taxi home, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The teenager had texted her cousin before boarding the cab, saying she was drunk and would be home soon. But when the cousin called her an hour later, her mobile phone had been turned off. A surveillance camera failed to capture the taxi’s number plate as it was too dark at the time.

‘Fresh air’ on flight

A passenger onboard a flight from Hangzhou to Chengdu, Sichuan, opened the plane door before it took off on Sunday to “get some fresh air”, the Southern Metropolis Daily reports. Photos taken by passengers showed the man sticking his head out of the safety door. The maintenance team rushed to fix the safety door and the flight took off on time, Hangzhou airport staff told the paper. The airline has yet to penalise the passenger.