IN BRIEF

Tourism

Shaolin told to clean up image

China's most famous Buddhist temple, the Shaolin Temple, could become better known for messiness and poor service.

An investigation of the five-star tourist spot found piles of garbage, disorderly service and traffic paralyzed by roadside vendors and dealers, according to a report by tourism authorities.

Zheng Shumin, director of the publicity department of the Shaolin Temple, confirmed on Jan 30 that the temple is cooperating with the local government to rectify the problems.

The temple, in Zhengzhou, Henan province, must fix the problems before March or lose its five-star rating.

Entertainment

Theater to debut rating system

While the government has not launched a film rating system on the mainland, a cinema management company plans to provide suggestions for its viewers before they buy tickets.

Bona Star Cinema Management Company, a branch of Bona Films, a privately-owned film studio, distributor and exhibitor, says it will notify viewers of the content of the films screened in its theaters.

"Various types of films are available in Chinese theaters, and some contain violent, bloody and erotic scenes," notes the company's official account on weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter.

"These films may bring harm to a young audience. Theaters should be responsible enough to inform the viewers of the content."

Health

Festive eating cuts blood supply

Prospective blood donors were turned away in Beijing during the Spring Festival even though there is a shortage of blood. The reason: carried away by the festive spirit, they had eaten too much fatty food. Now the Beijing Red Cross Blood Center has issued an alert over the critical need for blood.

"We saw a lot of people coming to donate blood in the past seven days but many tested as ineligible donors because they consumed too much oily food during the holidays," said a nurse surnamed Wang at a blood collecting van outside Ditan Park in Beijing.

Gu Zhongyi, a dietitian at the Beijing Friendship Hospital, said that if a donor eats too much oily food before donating, he or she might not pass the tests.

Safety

Food standards to get a boost

The national standards of at least eight main food categories will be established or revised within the next four years, the Ministry of Health announced.

Safety standards for meat, aquatic products, cereal, edible oil, liquor, flavoring, soy products and beverages will be formulated and amended before the end of 2015, according to the 12th five-year plan (2011-15) on national standards of food safety published on the ministry's website.

The standards of food contaminants, microbes, food additives and the residue limits of pesticides and veterinary drugs will also be revised, and the test methods will be reassessed.