The Chinese Government is expected to distribute contraceptives valued at 420 million yuan (US$52.5 million), to the public, free of charge next year, said Li Yanqiu, an official with the National Population and Family Planning Commission. It has already distributed an average of 1.2 billion condoms a year in the past few years, but the number and varieties of contraceptives still fall short of public demand as China now has 254 million couples of reproducing age.

Green wealth

A group of Chinese experts and scholars in environmental protection and people interested in the issue of sustainable development will gather in Beijing from Dec 16-18 to participate in China's first forum on "Green Wealth," sponsored by the Chinese Society of Environmental Sciences. Participants will share their views on "Green Wealth," which is made without wasting and damaging resources and the environment.

Relics damaged

Some pipes installed in the Beijing Municipal Heating Group leaked, seriously damaged the library, museum and theatre of the Nationality Cultural Palace Centre last week. Hot water and steam burst from the broken pipes and flowed into the basement of the centre. About 2,000 cultural relics were affected, including valuable Buddhist scriptures. Staff are trying their best to restore them.

Unhappy toast

A bride in Beijing is suing some of her wedding guests because of an unhappy toast. The guests kept encouraging her to perform a toast until she was so drunk that she finally fell to the ground. The following medical treatment cost about 50,000 yuan (US$6,165). The bride, who said she would never forget the day, hopes that the guests would help pay for her suffering.

New hotels

The Paris-based hotel and tourism company Accor signed an agreement in Beijing last week with China Resources (CR) Land Ltd to build two hotels in Beijing with full investment. The two brand hotels, Novotel and Ibis, will be located in the Phoenix Plaza, developed by the Beijing-based CR Land adjacent to the city centre. It is the first time for Accor to fully invest in hotel construction in Beijing, instead of handling only the management.

New postmarks

Ten new postmarks have recently been introduced by Beijing Postal Administration to the public, including the Fire God Temple, Beijing Zoo, Xu Beihong Museum, Furen University, Beijing Aquarium, Ming Dynasty City Wall, Beijing Planetarium, and others. The new ones bring the total number of Beijing postmarks to 300.

GPS hero

A female driver working with the Beijing Jinjian Taxi Cab Company was hijacked by a man one evening last week. However, she was rescued by the global positioning system (GPS) installed in her car. When the hijacking took place, she clicked the button to send a message to the control office of the company and ask for help. The policemen got the information, rushed to the location and caught the hijacker.

Privileges end

It used to be easy to spot a car owned by police officers in Beijing just by reading its plates, but now things are changing. Police-owned cars used to carry licence plates starting with the character for "jing" () followed by "OB" or "OD." Now the police are to use plates just like civilians, which will stop police vehicles from enjoying privileges such as avoiding driving fines but will safeguard their anonymity when carrying out undercover work.

Cats and dogs

Lu Di, a 75-year-old retired professor of Peking University, has adopted a number of stray cats and dogs. For years she pledged to adopt and take good care of homeless animals. She believes that her love will save them from the harm life on the streets can bring. Because of her deep love for the animals, Lu does not care about the noise they make. Her neighbours on the other hand...

Serving salamander

A restaurant in Beijing's Zhaolong Hotel now sells giant salamander meat, a class two national protected species in China. Its meat sells at 2,180 yuan (US$269) per 500 grams, which equates to around 888 yuan (US$110) per serving. However, the eatery is not breaking the law because the giant salamanders are not wild but imported from an aquaculture company in South China. It has got license from the city government.

Sports Lottery

The State Sport General Administration will donate 4 million yuan (US$490,000) over the next ten years to an education foundation assisting over 1,000 university students from poor families. A ceremony was held at Peking University last week, at which the agreement on donations was signed to the foundation: "Chinese Sports Lottery - New Great Wall Students-aid Fund." The fund was initiated by the Chinese Poverty-Relief Foundation.

Homes not hotels

The property management company of the Yuzeyuan Community decided to change all the vacant apartments into hotel rooms in order to make money. However, most residents were unhappy with the company's actions, allowing strangers to come and go within their blocks. The Beijing Huicheng Legal Panel said a residential building must not be used or rented for the purpose of business and residents have the right to oppose the company.

Blame the boy

In order to avoid punishment, a drunken driver thought of a unique way out he tried to blame it on his son! Immediately after hitting three parked cars, the man decided not to take responsibility. Instead, he made a phone call to his son, asking him to take the blame for the accident, thinking the punishment might be lighter. However, the police saw through the ruse and banned him from driving for six months.

Hair today

People worried about losing hair now have a piece of good news with the invention of Haomeijian brand special-effect shampoo and bath lotion. The new product is said to be made from 30 kinds of organic substances. Makers claim it is without side effects and can help hair grow.

We're not tight

Less than 100,000 Chinese companies, a mere 1 per cent of the country's total 10 million registered firms, have made a donation to charity, said Chen Xinnian of the State Development and Reform Commission. The remaining 99 per cent of enterprises that never engage in charity work feel it unfair to be branded stingy as the current taxing system does not lend itself to charity donations.

Water production

Chinese scientists have developed a method of extracting fresh water from the ocean's winter ice. Shi Peijun, head of the research team, said the salt content of the water extracted from the ice is below 0.2 per cent, which is within the threshold for usable water. The extraction process costs about four yuan (49 cents) per ton.

(China Daily 11/25/2005 page2)