Taste for wild fungi spreads the wealth

They say money doesn't grow on trees. But for China's fungi farmers, especially those in the fertile southwest, money has been growing in the ground.

Popular exported mushrooms

Bolete: For the past decade, Yunnan province has produced about 20,000 metric tons of boletes a year. From 5,000 to 8,000 tons is shipped to Italy, France and Poland. King bolete - boletus edulis - is the most popular species among European countries.

Romance leads to business venture

Cycling is only a leisure pursuit for most people, but a woman from Jingzhou, Hubei province, turned it into a business opportunity.

Around China

Hebei

New air routes set to alleviate congestion

China aims to handle its serious air traffic congestion and flight delays by opening 10 one-way air passages, senior civil aviation officials said.

Ex-mayor gets 15 years for bribery

The former mayor of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 2 million yuan ($323,000) on Tuesday for receiving 11.32 million yuan in bribes over five years.

Drug busts on rise in Mekong region

Chinese police cracked more than 2,600 drug cases and arrested more than 2,900 suspects during a two-month multinational drug control operation in the southern border region.

New CCTV head aware of Internet's role in the information era

A senior official from China's top radio, film and television watchdog was named president of China Central Television on Tuesday morning.

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

No heir in sight as Olympic legend Liu retires

Star hurdler Liu Xiang's retirement, announced officially on his micro blog on Tuesday, brings to an end an era of outstanding Chinese athletes who demonstrated the country's ability to excel on the world stage.

What they say

"Although he approaches training and racing very seriously every time, he is actually far from a perfect person in daily life. He appears careless sometimes, as he usually forgets things. He is a bit lazy in cleaning and organizing his belongings, so his room always seems in a mess. Sometimes he remembers he has left his training gear in the hotel room at the last minute as we leave for the next destination."

Ups and downs of a remarkable athletics career

2001