China Scene: West

Rising property values complicate divorce

Yang Lei and Guo Min, residents in Lanzhou, Gansu province, were married in 2004. The couple owned two apartments. Yang held the property rights, but owed Guo 370,000 yuan ($53,000) for the portion she had contributed to the purchase.

By the time the couple divorced a year later, property values in Lanzhou had risen significantly.

A court ruled that Yang needed to return Guo's original investment, plus an additional 90,000 yuan.

(Lanzhou Morning News)

Preserving Tibet's natural treasures

The Tibet autonomous region remains one of the globe's most unperturbed natural habitats.

More than 90 percent of mountain carps in the world today are found in Tibet. One third of China's species of wild vertebrates, including the Tibetan antelope, Tibetan gazelle, and wild yak, are native to the windswept plateau.

Recognizing the value and fragility of this special ecosystem, wildlife officials have converted nearly a third the region into nature reserves.

(www.chinanews.com.cn)

Boys draws own blood to stop fight

Zhu, a 10-year-old boy in Liupanshui, Guizhou province, stopped a fight between his parents by injuring himself.

On Tuesday evening, the boy's father came home drunk. His mother, tired of her spouse's drinking, became angry and they started to fight.

The boy at first tried to calm his parents with words, but failed. Desperate, he deliberately sliced his leg with a knife to catch their attention.

The parents stopped quarrelling in order to send the boy to the hospital. Fortunately, the injury was not serious.

(Guizhou Metropolis Daily)

Panda habitat larger than thought

For the first time, a wild giant panda was spotted in Shimian county, Sichuan province.

"The discovery showed that the living area of the animal is enlarged," said Yang Xuyu, deputy director of Sichuan provincial animal protection station.

The region is also home to captive pandas in the Liziping natural reserve.

(Chengdu Evening News)

A couple in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, had an unusual pet: a small reddish-brown monkey, called a pygmy loris.

Because the animal is listed on the national registry of endangered species, police recently seized the animal from the couple's home and took it to the city's wild animal rescue center.

(Metropolis Times)

Masseuse can't heal own sore back

A court hearing was held in Chongqing on Wednesday for a compensation case brought by an Italian masseuse.

The man was seriously injured in a traffic accident on April 14. After emergency treatment at a local hospital, the man returned home but still suffers from aches and pains from the accident.

His lawyers are requesting compensation of 3.96 million yuan ($573,000).

The court will make the judgment later.

(Chongqing Evening News)

(China Daily 06/17/2008 page6)