China Scene: Central

Luxury toilet welcomes visitors to Shaolin Temple

The Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Henan province, has opened a five-star public toilet.

Covering an area of more than 150 sq m, the luxury toilet is equipped with an LCD TV set, flowerpots, potted landscapes and baby beds.

And the toilet, which includes a special stall for disabled people and facilities for the blind, also provides services like luggage storage, phones and vending machines.

(Henan Commercial Daily)

Myna's siren song scares off several robbers

A grey myna named Mao Mao that can imitate a police siren has twice scared off thieves in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

Last Sunday morning, Mao Mao's owner, surnamed Yuan, noticed that her motorcycle had been moved from beneath her window. She also spotted a man who appeared to be running away from the scene when she went outside to have a look around after hearing the myna's siren call.

In another case, the bird's call frightened off a man who was trying to steal some bacon she had hung outside her window.

Yuan said Mao Mao had probably learned to imitate the siren after hearing the sound through the window.

(Zhengzhou Evening News)

Salon fined for giving expensive haircuts

A beauty salon was fined 500,000 yuan (about $71,400) for attempting to charge two schoolgirls a huge sum of money for styling their hair last month in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province.

The Erqi district bureau of price imposed the highest possible fine for fooling clients after an investigation of the salon. Officials said the beauty salon had set a trap to fool its clients.

Last week, two students, surnamed Zhang and Yuan, received a bill for 12,000 yuan after they had their hair done at the beauty salon on Erqi Road.

The parents of the two vocational school students had traveled to the central metropolis to seek help from local government officials.

(Henan Daily)

(China Daily 04/10/2008 page6)