China Scene: South

Snakes on a plane? Not in Guangzhou

Security guards refused to let a boy carry a toy boa constrictor onto a plane in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport on Thursday.

The incident took place at about 9 am, when a female security guard discovered the fake snake in a bag and shrieked in fear.

A male guard correctly identified the snake as a toy.

The boy said he had bought the lifelike boa at a wildlife park in Guangzhou and wanted to bring it back to Thailand.

But he did not inform the airport or the airline in advance.

Aviation rules prohibit people from bringing toy boas aboard planes.

(New Express Daily)

Surgery cheers up constant weeper

Minor surgery has put an end to two years of weeping for a man in Guilin, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Wu was diagnosed with a blocked tear duct early this week that had caused his left eye to weep constantly for two years.

His doctors had been unable to find the cause. Finally Wu went to Guilin No 2 People's Hospital, where the problem was immediately fixed with minor surgery.

Wu said many people thought of him as sorrowful because he was constantly wiping tears from his cheek.

(Nanguo Morning Post)

Birds fed drugs to ward off flu outbreak

Zoo and park staff in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, are adding medicine to bird feed to prevent the spread of avian flu in the city.

Lime powder is also being spread to disinfect areas where birds congregate.

The measures come after a bird flu case in the city's Liwan district early this month. The Jinhua market was forced to slaughter 518 chickens after the outbreak to stop the virus from spreading.

(Information Times)

(China Daily 03/26/2008 page6)