China Scene: South

Elderly Briton finds life of comfort in Nanning

Ken Miller, a 70-year-old British man, has decided to settle down in Nanning, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, since the British immigration department has refused to grant his Chinese wife Lei Genxiu a visa.

Miller who met Lei, 46, 18 months ago through an international agency visited Nanning three times before they married six months ago.

The Briton said Nanning had made an impression on him and that the quality of life in the southern Chinese metropolis is better than what he was used to in Britain.

The immigration department declined to grant his Chinese wife a visa because the pair was suspected of having impure motives due to age gap.

(Nanguo Morning Post)

Woodcarver wins praise for community work

A woodcarver in Hainan province has been recognized for his work with disabled people.

Wang Sunwen, 45, won an award early this month for encouraging and training people with disabilities to work at his furniture shop in Haikou.

Wang, who is disabled himself, opened the shop in the late 1990s. The furniture business employs and has trained more than 100 local disabled people.

Many of Wang's woodcarvings can be seen in the city's five-star hotel lobbies.

(Nanguo Metropolis Daily)

(China Daily 03/28/2008 page6)