China Scene: North

Mom and daughter show honesty is the best policy

A woman surnamed Liang and her daughter found a wallet containing 5,000 yuan ($715) in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, on Friday and returned it to the owner.

Liang's family lives on less than 500 yuan a month. The money she found was equal to the family's annual income. Even so, she returned the wallet to Liu, a company manager, after finding his cell phone number in the wallet.

As a reward, Liu gave Liang's daughter, a middle school student, a shopping card worth 1,000 yuan.

(Shijiazhuang Daily)

Wang, a woman from Dalian, Liaoning province, has a pet dog that is able to turn off the television and pretend to read a newspaper.

After seeing its owner changing the channel with a remote control at home, the dog took a great interest in the device. One night she was watching TV when the dog snatched the controller and changed the channel.

"The dog will take a page from me and sit reading whenever I read a newspaper at home. Reading the news now seems to be one of the dog's preferred pastimes," she said, "The dog's skills are fascinating."

(Dalian Evening News)

Driver toughs out two days locked in trunk

Wang Jiahe, a 42-year-old cab driver from Yingkou, Liaoning province, lived through two days and three nights in his trunk after three robbers locked him inside.

Three knife-wielding men carjacked him late last Wednesday, tied his hands and placed him in the trunk. They then used the car to commit several robberies, without giving Wang any water and food.

Two days later, the robbers left the car on a remote road near a village, where a farmer surnamed Hao found it and called police.

They opened the trunk and found Wang unconscious. Police are still searching for the robbers.

(Liaoning Daily)

Only young of heart embracing street hugs

A company in Changchun, Jilin province, encouraged 70 young people to give pedestrians of the opposite gender a big hug on the streets as a way to rid them of shyness or timidity when meeting strangers.

While a young pedestrian surnamed Zhang received a hug calmly from a woman on Tuesday, Wang, a 52-year-old man, was horrified on receiving one. He said it was "something unacceptable".

The company found that most young pedestrians like Zhang accepted their hugs as an interesting way of communicating with strangers while the elderly were not in favor of it.

(Procuratorial Daily)

Migrant workers get help running errands online

Police from Jiaohe, Jilin province, opened a special online office last week to help farmers working away from their hometowns update and verify personal documents using QQ, a popular online chat tool.

A migrant worker surnamed Wang who works in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone contacted police in his hometown on Wednesday. He used QQ to submit a new ID application form online.

"Many migrant workers cannot ask for time off for such things. In this way, we not only help them handle personal legal affairs on time, but help save traveling expenses," Wang Zengqing, a police officer, said.

(www.chinanews.com.cn)

Insecure students going under knife before job hunt

Dong, a 24-year-old college graduate from Tianjin municipality, had a birthmark removed from his face because he was afraid it would harm his chances of getting a job.

"It has come into fashion for young male college students to have such surgery because they think having attractive features will help them get a good job," Zhou Maohua, a doctor, said. "Of the students I have received so far this year, about 30 percent were male.

"Although their motives are understandable, it is not necessary for students without such facial defects to follow like a sheep."

(Metro Express)

Elderly man to serve jail sentence at home

After convicting an 80-year-old man of killing his 82-year-old wife, judges in Beijing's Yangqing district on Monday permitted him to serve a 10-year sentence under surveillance at home.

After quarreling with their foster son on Dec 12, 2007, the aged couple became so depressed that they decided to kill themselves. Wang Guichen, the husband, set fire to their house and locked all the doors.

During the botched double suicide, Wang saw his wife struggling desperately in the fire and hit her with a stick in the hope of ending her suffering quickly. He succeeded. However, Wang survived after his neighbors opened a door and rescued him.

(Beijing Times)

(China Daily 05/07/2008 page6)