Fall after late-night trip to Net caf leaves boy in coma

Xing Yijin, 15, has been in a coma ever since he fell while trying to scale a school wall.

His goal was to escape campus so he could surf the Internet in Sanya, Hainan province.

Xing is now in the surgical ward of Sanya Hospital.

The incident took place at night on April 17 when Xing and three other students plotted to sneak off campus to visit a nearby Internet cafe.

Xing fell three stories to the ground and had to be sent to hospital for treatment.

Doctors said he would not wake up for about three months.

Xing's father said he had spent more than 30,000 yuan ($4,300) on treatments.

(Nanguo Metropolis News)

Tour guides go gender neutral at southern hotspot

Starting this month, tour guides in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province, will no longer refer to their customers as "handsome boy" and "pretty girl".

Instead they will use tongzhi, or "comrade". The honorific will not be used for foreigners.

The goal is to improve services in the tourism industry.

Zhaoqing, a city in the western part of Guangdong province, is a famous tourist destination that is popular among tourists from home and abroad.

(Guangzhou Daily)

(China Daily 05/09/2008 page5)