Around the Nation: Chinese teacher shot in head was mistaken as wild boar; free physicals for porpoises
Also, seven sentenced to death for Shandong fire and paralysed man walks again
PUBLISHED : Friday, 20 March, 2015, 8:02pm
UPDATED : Friday, 20 March, 2015, 10:01pm
A finless porpoise is treated to a physical exam at Poyang Lake, Jiangxi province. Photo: Xinhua
JIANGXI
Somefin the matter?
Physical examinations of finless porpoises are being carried out on a boat on Poyang Lake, Jiangxi province, Xinhua reports. The exams are aimed at gaining an insight into the health issues facing the marine mammals. The porpoises, which are related to whales and dolphins, are an endangered species, with only about 1,000 left in China. Pollution, poaching and construction projects are blamed for their decline.
Accidentally-on-porpoise?
Investigators are probing the death of an adult finless porpoise found in the Yangtze River in Jiangxi, Xinhua reports. There were visible injuries on the mouth and tail of the female porpoise, which measured 1.4 metres long and weighed about 35kg. Finless porpoises, also known as Yangtze River porpoises, have inhabited the Yangtze for 25 million years.
SHANGDONG
Seven sentenced to death
Authorities have sentenced seven people to death for starting a fire that killed one person and injured three others in Shandong province, Shanghai Daily reports. Wang Yuefu, one of the seven, said he had been instructed by officials in Shandong to intimidate villagers demanding compensation for the destruction of their farmland. The officials were not prepared to pay the 15 million yuan (HK$19 million) the farmers were demanding, and when villagers erected a tent near a construction site the officials recruited thugs to set fire to the tent while the protestors were sleeping.
Pulled pork
A major pork producer in Dezhou has closed its doors after claims that it was using pigs that had recovered from foot-and-mouth disease, Shanghai Daily reports. The move comes after a report by CCTV said that infected animals should have been isolated and killed instead. The company, Jinluo Meat Products, said it was suspending the operation pending investigation.
TIANJIN
Tree's a crowd
Thousands of Communist Party cadres, students, and soldiers have taken part in tree-planting ceremonies in Dongli district in Tianjin , Jwb.com.cn reports. The masses came together to dig holes, plant trees and water plants in an effort to beautify the city. Last year, the city plants tress on more than 2,500 hectares.
Cheering for Tianjin
The Chinese National Tourism Office and the city of Tianjin have held an event in Madrid celebrating the Chinese city as a holiday destination, Xinhua reports. Zhang Zhiyun, the director general of the Chinese National Tourism Office in Madrid, said Tianjin was a coastal city, an ecological city and a hub for medical tourism. He said it was also the third-biggest city in China and just half an hour's drive from Beijing.
CHONGQING
Fashion show is rubbish
A company in Chongqing held a fashion show using unconventional materials to highlight its appeal for greener lifestyles, Xinhua reports. One model wore a garment made of brown paper boxes and a hat made out of old CDs, another wore a dress made out of metal rubbish bins. About 1,000 of the company's employees took part.
A long work in the park
Chongqing will begin work to create the Yangtze River Three Gorges National Park this year, the Chongqing Morning Post reports. The project, which aims to create a national park on the same scale as Yellowstone National Park in the United States, will feature the Three Gorges as its main attraction, alongside the area's mountains and rivers. The project is scheduled for completion in about five years.
SHANGHAI
Paralysed man walks
A Shanghai man who was partially paralysed by a fall from a roof five years ago can walk unaided after undergoing a new medical procedure, Shanghai Daily reports. The 24-year-old man was China's first patient to receive the treatment, in which doctors use electrodes to stimulate the spinal cord and reopen the communication pathway from the brain to the legs.
Children: one's enough…
More than half of the mothers under the age of 45 in Shanghai have no plans to have a second child, Shanghai Daily reports. The Shanghai Women's Federation of Fudan University polled 1,200 women and found that the two most common reasons for not wanting a second child were cost and lack of support.
FUJIAN
…here's why one's enough
A five-year-old boy tried to run away from home in protest at his parents' decision to have a second child, Jndsb.jxnews.com.cn reports. Police found the boy standing alone in the middle of a train car going from Jiujiang to Fuzhou , Fujian province. The boy refused to answer their questions and simply burst into tears. His mother then appeared, running from the other end of the train. She told the policemen the boy had stormed off because she and her husband had decided to have a second baby.
Man falls from building
A man from Fujian province fell to his death from the top of a seven-storey building, Dnkb.com.cn reports. Witnesses saw the man fall from the building on Thursday. Police are still investigating the matter; it is not clear whether he committed suicide.
GUANGDONG
New life in the mountains
A Guangdong businessman earning more than 1 million yuan a year has given up his extravagant urban lifestyle for a minimalist existence on a mountain, China.org.cn reports. Two years ago, Liu Jingchong quit the business he founded and retreated to the Zhongnan Mountains. Liu now spends most of his days meditating, reading, and practising calligraphy. He leaves his retreat to buy rice, flour and oil, but grows his own vegetables.
Teacher shot as boar
A female teacher in Guangzhou is recovering after being mistaken for a wild boar and shot in the head, Guangzhou Daily reports. Zhang Kehuai, 40, from Dongyuan county, was walking on a mountain with her cattle when a village security officer mistook her for a wild boar and shot her. She was taken to hospital, where doctors found bullet wounds in her face, eyes and lungs. She has regained consciousness but remains in a critical condition. The shooter has been detained by the police.
HUBEI
Testing parent
A man who thought his son did not look enough like him had the relationship confirmed in two paternity tests, but still remains sceptical, the Chutian Metropolis Daily reports. The man says his son, 7, looks less and less like him every day. After taking tests at two hospitals, both of which were positive, he approached a third hospital and asked for yet another. Zhongnan Hospital staff refused, saying test results were 99.99 per cent accurate.
An unfair fare
A taxi passenger was cheated out of correct change by a driver who asked her to pay in 100 yuan notes so he could use them in red envelopes for the Lunar New Year, the Wuhan Evening News reports. The ride cost 30 yuan, but when she tried to pay with small notes, he asked if she had any 100 yuan notes. She then gave him 300 yuan, expecting 270 in change, but received only 169 yuan.
