China Scene: East

Elderly man collapses in fit of mahjong ecstasy

A court in Jiangning District of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, has backed appeals for compensation of 400 yuan each from friends, by the family of a man who became paralyzed after a sudden collapse during a mahjong game.

On April 22, Zhang sat down for a game with three friends in a neighbor's home. He reportedly burst into sudden laughter after he drew a tile he desperately wanted. The 76-year-old then fell to the ground and lay still. Although Zhang was treated, he became paralyzed.

(www.chinanews.com)

Man looking to patent rice-based tableware

A man from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, who claims to have invented a kind of disposable tableware made of rice, is looking for Chinese backers even though, he says, more than 20 foreign companies have expressed interest in it.

Dai Chengbeng, a retired soldier in Nanchang, felt inspired to do something for the country after China won the bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games.

The sight of paper and plastic lunch boxes on trains gave him an idea and after two years of research, Dai came up with the rice-based tableware which can be made into various shapes and can endure high temperatures.

Dai says it can also be degraded in 30 minutes and costs just 0.1 yuan apiece as against 0.3 yuan for the paper boxes now in use.

(Information Daily)

Grateful sparrow refuses to leave rescuer

A sparrow has so taken to a Taiwanese couple who rescued it as a fledgling and nursed it back to health, that it refuses to leave and has become like a family member.

Five years ago, Wen took home the little bird that fell off a tree and hurt itself. But the bird refused to fly away even when it recovered after a month. It likes to eat at the family table with the others and even ensures Wen gets to sleep at the right time.

Wen usually calls it a day after watching the 11 p.m. TV news. If he keeps on the TV after this, the bird will keep hopping around him till he switches off and heads to bed.

(www.chinataiwan.org)

Farmer in jail over opium poppy fields

An elderly farmer in Huizhou, Anhui Province, was recently sentenced to six months in jail for growing opium poppy as a good cure for toothache.

Xie, 65, found some discarded seeds in a plastic bag in November 2005. Curious, he planted them in his vegetable patch.

The following spring, the seeds yielded brightly-colored poppy blossoms. Later, Xie found out from books that the plant was opium poppy, and that its latex contained an effective cure for toothache.

This April, Xie increased the cultivated area and was seized by police before the harvest.

(Jianghuai Morning Post)

Thieves flee after woman says victim is her mother

A quick-thinking woman in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province saved an elderly woman from being robbed, by posing as her daughter.

Hang was on her way to work one early morning in May when she saw the woman surrounded by a group of people, some of whom were trying to take off her gold ring and necklace by force.

The woman was shaking in fright and rage. Hang then marched up to the group, told them the woman was her mother and demanded that they stop. This frightened the group which then dispersed quickly.

(Jiangnan Metropolitan News)

(China Daily 08/23/2007 page6)