China Scene: North

Schoolgirl caught for kidnapping herself

A 13-year-old girl from Yanji, Jilin Province, was so sick of going to school that she "kidnapped" herself by sending a text message to her mother demanding 5,000 yuan ($641) ransom.

Her parents called police for help after they confirmed the message was from their daughter's mobile phone.

It took over two hours for a group of cops to investigate the kidnapping and discover it was just a hoax.

(New Culture)

Explosive find could have been lethal

A rather silly group of migrant workers placed 10 abandoned bombs from a construction site in Shenyang, Liaoning, outside their work shed, thinking they were only scrap metal.

They dug out the explosives last week hoping they could sell the scrap for cash.

Checking the building site, a foreman found the unexploded ordnance and called police for help. "The rusty bombs could have exploded at any moment if they were struck hard enough," police warned after disposing of them.

(Shenyang Evening Daily)

Bank customer gets payback

A man was so sick of having to wait in a long queue at a bank in Beijing last Wednesday, that he retaliated by depositing his 99 yuan ($12.60), one yuan at a time.

It took more than three hours for a bank clerk to finish the transaction, which made many other people queuing up there very angry.

But, the man surnamed Li did not give up doing so until two managers of the bank apologized to him for making him wait for over an hour and a half for service.

(Beijing Youth Daily)

Leave the car at home, people in Harbin told

Instead of driving cars civil servants in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, will travel by bus on its first "vehicle-free day", September 16.

As one of China's cities to take part in the campaign to encourage people to travel by public transport, bicycles or on foot, even newlyweds will be encouraged to take a bus.

Certain districts will also be designated as vehicle-free zones, with private cars limited to run through a few roads on September 22, the first nationwide "vehicle-free day" for up to 108 cities throughout China, authorities said.

(Harbin Daily)

Injured rare bird rescued and set free

A policeman from Muminggan Joint Banner, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, freed an injured golden eagle into the wild last Monday, after taking care of it for more than 20 days.

The cop surnamed Li found the bird of prey last month after one of its legs was broken. Seeing the bird could not stand on its own feet, he took it home, fed it and cured its wound with the help of an expert.

The bird, the expert said, is a very rare species under top State protection.

Sightings of the bird are rare in the banner's grassland area.

(www.xinhuanet.com)

(China Daily 09/11/2007 page6)