Elderly man saves children from stampeding ox

The quick thinking and exemplary courage of an 81-year-old farmer at a village near An'ning, a city in Heilongjiang province, prevented two children from being hit by a runaway ox last Monday.

The children froze in fright at the sight of the fuming beast bearing down on them on Monday morning.

But the elderly Yan Kuichang came to the rescue by somehow grabbing its reins and steering it away from the children.

After falling exhausted he was run over by the oxcart and suffered bone fractures, which required a three-hour operation. Touched by his heroism, doctors wiped most of his medical charges.

(www.xinhuanet.com)

Missing elderly man's body dug up in backyard

Wang Ping, a farmer from a village in Dandong, Jilin province, buried his 77-year-old father in his backyard after he committed suicide.

The neighbors informed police last Friday that they had not seen the elderly man for some time.

Investigations revealed that the man had committed suicide.

His remains were removed from the yard and sent to a crematorium.

(Chinese Business Morning View)

Too much alcohol leads to fatal plunge

A 49-year-old man surnamed Hu fell to his death from the balcony of a 16th floor apartment in Shenyang, Liaoning province, last Monday.

According to one of his friends they both had a lot to drink the night before.

"I remember Hu said he wanted to use the bathroom. I then fell sleep. When I woke up on Monday morning I was told that Hu had died," the friend said.

He said Hu may have mistook the open balcony for the toilet and fell to his death

The case is now under investigation.

(Huashang Morning Post)

Productive black bear gives birth to five cubs

A 10-year-old black bear at the Heibao Bear Farm in Mudanjiang, a city of Heilongjiang province, recently gave birth to five cubs, thought to be the largest number ever born in captivity.

The fecund bear mom is so productive it has, since its first ever delivery at the age of 5, given birth to twin cubs every year before the quintuplets arrived, Zhang Xinghua, head of the farm, said.

"After living with their mother for 100 days, the five cubs were removed on Monday for hand rearing along with a number of other cubs. Now, the five cubs are getting along well with the others in a new home," he said.

(www.xinhuanet.com)

Ghoulish couple scare off their wedding guests

Guests who attended what was quite literally a horror wedding for a young couple at a hotel in Dalian, Liaoning province, were all scared away when the groom and his bride arrived dressed as blood-soaked corpses.

The couple insisted on having such an awful wedding when they engaged a local company to make it an unforgettable day, Wang Xing, a wedding consultant with the company, said.

After frightened guests stormed out, Wang vowed never again to provide such a service, no matter how much couples were willing to stump up.

(New Culture View)

Young thief's friend caught with two left feet

A 17-year-old girl stole a pair of shoes from a shop early this month only to later discover they were both left footed.

The girl named Da, a resident of Shulan, a city in Jilin province, told a friend to take one shoe back to the shop to have changed.

Unfortunately, two shop assistants recognized the shoe and called the police. Da was subsequently arrested and fined 500 yuan ($71) by a court.

Because it was her first offence, she escaped a prison sentence, police said.

(New Culture View)

(China Daily 05/15/2008 page7)