 China Scene: North
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-24 07:30 Abandoned wife sues husband-turned monk A young wife surnamed Sun from Miyun district, Beijing, sued her husband for divorce recently on the grounds of abandonment. Sun's husband Zhang left her, pregnant, at their home in Miyun district one day last August after a minor quarrel, and went to live as a monk in a temple outside Beijing. Zhang's self-imposed seclusion carried on until almost a year after his wife had given birth to a baby girl. Sun filed for a divorce settlement early this week that awards her all their common property as well as an apartment for her and their baby. The case is soon to be heard. (Beijing Times) Backyard raid on opium poppy toothache remedy Li Defu, a farmer from a village in Tailai county, Heilongjiang province, illegally cultivated more than 100 opium poppies in his backyard, with the intention of using them as a toothache remedy. Police acting on a tip-off found 150 flourishing poppies when they raided his yard on last Thursday. After uprooting the offending weeds police officers severely reprimanded Li, telling him he would be prosecuted if found growing the plant again. "I grew them as a sort of emergency medicine for toothache and stomachache. It never occurred to me that planting them was illegal," Li said. "After this experience, I would never do it again." (Heilongjiang Morning Post) Fishing addict saved after falling famished into river A young man surnamed Hu is so fanatically keen on fishing that he fell, exhausted, into a river on the outskirts of Tianjin municipality last Thursday, the last day of 15 consecutive fishing daytrips. Hu, 26, hoping for a summer season bumper haul, had fished around-the-clock for over two weeks when he suddenly felt faint, owing to malnutrition, and collapsed into the river. Police fortunately rescued Hu and rushed him to a hospital where he was said to be recovering the next morning. (www.xinhuanet.com) Man runs drunk and naked through scenic spot A man was put behind bars for 12 days on Monday for running drunk, and nude, through a scenic spot on the outskirts of Beijing and for throwing stones at police officers. The man began savagely beating his girlfriend after a quarrel. He then stripped and pursued her, naked, through a scenic spot in the Fangshan district of Beijing, throwing stones at police officers attempting to restrain him. The debacle continued for a few hours until the man sobered-up at a police station, where he was later placed in custody for causing an affray in public. (Beijing Times) Tsinghua graduates revive nude running tradition Two male graduates from the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University ran a few laps of their campus courtyard, naked, one night early this month to celebrate their graduation. They then pasted 50 photos of their extended streak on the student and faculty website. "We hope in this way to make our university more humanistic and to encourage creativity in our classmates," Fu Guiyan, one of the naked runners, said. School authorities said they regarded the incident as "a personal way of celebrating," but police contacted by media said that running in an unclothed state violates the country's law and that, "they will be punished for doing so if verified." (Beijing Times) (China Daily 07/24/2008 page5) |
