China Scene: South

2008 dragon painting marks Beijing Olympics

Folk artist Wu Weiwei is planning to apply for a Guinness Worlds Record for his painting of 2,008 dragons, in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

Titled "The Chinese Dragons" the scroll is 29 m long and 160 cm wide. It took Wu, 66, more than eight months to finish and he plans to enter it in a 2008 Beijing Olympic Games themed exhibition in Beijing.

Wu has been drawing dragons for more than 10 years and wore out 10 brushes completing the work.

(Information Times)

Court says dogs have no portraiture rights

Futian district people's court in Shenzhen special economic zone threw out a lawsuit filed by a woman surnamed Wang against two companies that had used her dog's portrait on packaging for their products without her permission.

The country's human rights laws protect people's portraiture rights against similar infringements.

Wang asked for 300,000 yuan (about $43,000) in compensation, but the court said privacy and portraiture laws do not stretch to animals.

The case was the first of its kind in Guangdong province.

(Southern Metropolis Daily)

(China Daily 04/08/2008 page6)