Around the nation: Gardening couple in late 80s provide food, shelter and care for disabled peers
Also: Critically ill patient dies in ambulance held up by enraged motorist; drunk bottle thrower fined thousands of yuan
PUBLISHED : Monday, 09 March, 2015, 10:34pm
UPDATED : Monday, 09 March, 2015, 10:34pm
A couple in Sichuan, both in their 80s, have been growing vegetables for 16 years and have taken in two dozen other elderly who cannot look after themselves. Photo: SCMP Pictures
SICHUAN
Garden feeds the soul
A couple in their 80s have operated a vegetable farm and provided food and board for 24 less fortunate elderly for years, the West China City Daily reports. The husband opened the farm 16 years ago and soon started looking after elderly neighbours, some of whom were disabled. The couple sell their spare produce and pay the others to watch the farm. They said their lifestyle brings them much happiness.
Subsidies for elderly jabs
Chengdu will subsidise pneumonia vaccinations for people aged over 60 to lessen the incidence of the illness among the elderly, the Chengdu Evening News reports. It is estimated that about one in four of the city's 246,000 elderly catch pneumonia or other serious respiratory diseases each year, and 10,000 die. A course of the vaccine costs 2,000 yuan, but the elderly will pay just 10 yuan.
ANHUI
Burglar dies on the job
A man and his uncle in Bengbu planned to burgle a jewellery store, and hid on the store's roof for two days and nights waiting for an opportunity, the Anhui Business Daily reports. Just as they were about to act, the uncle fell off the roof and died. The nephew called an ambulance then fled. He was later arrested for attempted theft.
Saving food and money
A college canteen in Hefei is offering cheaper, smaller portions of rice to save food, the Jianghuai Morning Post reports. The canteen used to offer two orders of rice: once costing one yuan for male students and a smaller 50 cent portion for women. Most of the women still cannot finish their rice, so the canteen now offers 40 cent and 30 cent portions.
GUANGDONG
Man dies in fire
A man who lived alone died in an explosion and fire at his home in Foshan , the Southern Metropolis News reports. Firefighters extinguished the blaze before it spread to other homes. They suspect a faulty gas bottle caused the fire. Four people died in a residential fire in the city, southeast of Guangzhou, on February 10.
Bitten by loan sharks
A Foshan man was abducted when he failed to repay loan sharks, Foshan Daily reports. The man tried to borrow 30,000 (HK$38,000) yuan, but the lenders only gave him 10,000 yuan - but demanded he pay them 30,000 yuan. When he refused, they kidnapped him. His family called the police, who arrested the gangsters for illegal detention.
JIANGSU
Cruise for seniors
Seven senior citizens aged between 50 and 70 from Wuxi have joined an around-the-world cruise, the Jiangnan Wanbao reports. A tour agent signed up more than two dozen passengers, most of them retired business owners, for the 86-day voyage starting from Shanghai. But the others pulled out of the trip before it began.
Right image, wrong year
Photos posted on social media of a cherry tree in full bloom prompted scores of Nanjing residents to visit the city's largest cherry farm, People.com.cn reports. The photos were reposted more than 100,000 times on WeChat, but when visitors arrived at the farm they saw the tree was bare, and realised that the photos were taken at the height of last year's season.
JILIN
Health food, sick hoax
An 88-year-old man in Gongzhuling received a letter announcing that he had won 800,000 yuan in a lottery only to find it was a fraud, the Xinwenhua Bao reports. The man liked to buy health products and gave his address to various companies. His family checked the lottery company's address and discovered that he had been conned.
Rush to save son
The parents of a nine-year-old boy in Gongzhuling have offered part of their own livers for transplant after their son suffered sudden, potentially fatal liver failure, the Chengshi Wanbao reports. The boy suddenly developed severe stomach aches and his eyes went yellow one day at school. Doctors hope to carry out the transplant soon.
LIAONING
Motorist stops ambulance
A knife-wielding driver in Shenyang pulled over a ambulance carrying a gravely ill patient after it hit his car by accident, the Shenyang Evening News reports. The enraged driver chased the ambulance and made it pull over. The emergency vehicle was delayed for half an hour and the late-stage cancer patient died before they could reach the hospital. The ambulance driver called police, who subdued the driver and took him away.
Neighbours to rescue
A dozen residents of Dandong helped rescue a woman from a residential fire caused by fireworks, Ddrb.cn reports. A woman alerted neighbours that a fire had broken out in her 17th floor home. A dozen of them rushed to her flat with basins and water to help. Luckily the fire was not big and they put it out in a short time. It was not clear what started the fire, but the owner stored a large amount recycled paper and cartons in the flat. Several deadly high-rise residential fires have occurred in China in recent years.
SHAANXI
End of two eras
A woman in Xian whose 81-year-old uncle died in Xinjiang tried to send condolences to his relatives by telegram only to find that the service is no longer available, Huashang Daily reports. She tried three post offices but none were able to help. Finally she sent a text message to the uncle's family. Telegram services are disappearing from post offices and only a few industries, such as shipping companies, still use them.
Police find valuables
Police in Baoji helped a man to track his bag containing cash and bank account documents that he left in a taxi, Huangshang Daily reports. The man told the police that he failed to stop the taxi and did not keep a receipt. The bag contained 20,000 yuan in cash and many important bank documents. The police tracked down 150 taxis operating that night and, after asking around, found the driver who had accepted the man's fare. The bag was found in the taxi with nothing missing, the report said.
SHANGHAI
Help for victims
Minhang district has established an anti-domestic-violence association to offer better protection to women, Thepaper.cn reports. More than 200 police offices work with the association to handle domestic violence cases. About 400 cases of domestic violence cases were reported last year in the city.
Bottle thrower fined
A drunken passenger who threw an empty liquor bottle out a car window on a highway and struck a BMW has been fined 13,900 yuan, the Modern Express reports. Traffic police said that although the bottle weighed only a few hundred grams, it could be lethal if it hit a speeding vehicle.
