China Scene: North

Balloonists take to the air above Changchun

Some 70 hot-air balloon enthusiasts will pilot 35 hot-air balloons over the sky of Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province, from July 8 -12.

They will participate in a series of competitions, such as short races and high-speed chases. The competition, the first to be held in the city, should prove entertaining to local citizens. A hot-air balloon wedding ceremony for 30 couples from across the country will also take place during the event.

(www.cctv.com)

Purse-snatcher should have brought a map

A man who stole a woman's handbag on a street in Dalian, Liaoning, last Tuesday night was caught red-handed after his escape route took him past a police station.

The woman, surnamed Liu, was walking home when the robbery happened, and she immediately cried for help when the purse-snatcher struck. With Liu and many other pedestrians behind him, the robber took flight - straight towards a police station.

Seeing the police pouring out of the station, the robber collapsed to the ground without putting up a fight.

(New Business)

9-year-old publishes book about life in school

Fanjiang Guoyi, a 9-year-old schoolgirl from Dalian, Liaoning, earned 300,000 yuan ($38,500) after she published a book of about 120 thousand words.

Playing Well at Elementary School is her first book, and its publication has made her into something of a star. Her father said his daughter had lived in 16 cities from the time that she was in kindergarten through elementary school. He said she had drawn on the experience when writing her book.

(www.chinanews.cn)

Woman's fingers plucked from pets' stomachs

Doctors at a hospital in Suizhong, Liaoning, successfully reattached two of a woman's fingers after she had cut three them off and then her pet dogs ate them. She was rushed to hospital on June 2 after chopping off her fingers. Doctors opened up the dogs' stomachs, picked out the two fingers inside and then reattached them. The woman is already able to move her reattached fingers.

(Chinese Business Morning News)

Watermelons create a gruesome scene

A woman was scared of out of her wits on Tuesday when she ran over a bicyclist carrying a sack of watermelons in Hohhot, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and mistook the pieces of smashed fruit all over the victim's head for blood.

The woman, surnamed Liu, had received her driver's license the day before. She got out of her car after the accident and found the bicyclist lying on the ground with red fluid covering his face. Liu thought that she had killed him and felt faint. To her surprise, the victim, a farmer, stood up and wiped all the watermelon juice off his face.

(www.xinhuanet.com)

(China Daily 06/19/2007 page6)