China Scene: East

Never too old to learn some English

Li Xiu, a 74-year-old Shanghai native, came into the media spotlight when she showed up to take the city's intermediate English Interpretation Examination on September 16.

Li is the oldest candidate to ever take the exam. She revealed that in 1989 she earned a college degree in English through independent study. In 2004, she passed the primary English Interpretation Examination. Last year Li participated in the intermediate exam for the first time, but failed narrowly.

(Xinwen Evening News)

Tall students can sleep a little easier

Tall students at Zhejiang Science and Technology College don't have to curl up to squeeze into average-sized dormitory beds anymore.

This semester the college designated two rooms for five freshmen, each of whom are taller than 1.90 m. The rooms' custom-made beds are each about 2.10 m long. Even the students' school uniforms are specially fitted for their large frames. A manager in charge of logistics at the college said the school had made the arrangements after learning of the students' heights through their application documents. All five of the students, including Xu Tao, a 2.02-m-tall student from Haining in Zhejiang Province who is also the tallest student at the college, are happy with the extra-long beds and grateful for the school's consideration.

(Zhejiang Daily)

Elder roughing it after earthquake 8 years ago

Terrified by a strong earthquake in 1999, a 70-something Taiwanese man insisted on sleeping in a shabby tent for eight years.

The elder, surnamed Zhan, saw many people crushed to death when buildings collapsed during the 1999 earthquake. Terrified, he built a tent in a forest, an area of 3.3 sq m that he continued living in after the earthquake, even through hurricanes and heavy rains. Local people worried that Zhan's health would deteriorate if he continued living in such a bad condition. They are now trying to persuade Zhan to move into the local elders' home.

(www.chinanews.com)

Robber kicks back, awaits his fate

A robber was recently sent to court on charges of committing robbery.

Knowing that his victim had called police, a knife-wielding burglar in Nanping, Fujian Province, surprisingly put down his knife and sat back on the sofa, eating fruit and patiently waiting for the police to arrive.

The burglar, surnamed Liao, followed the victim, surnamed Huang, to her residence one April day and told her he was robbing her. Liao pointed a knife at Huang and demanded she take out all of her valuables. When Liao was not paying attention, Huang called police for help. Instead of getting upset, Liao became relaxed when he learned the police were on their way.

(The Straits Metropolitan News)

(China Daily 09/27/2007 page6)