China Scene: Central

Suspected seed thief comes to a sorry end

A thief is believed to have been suffocated to death after setting fire to an apartment in an attempt to destroy evidence of her crime, in Xiangfan, Hubei province, on Monday.

Liu Yan is thought to have entered the apartment, in the city's Qinghekou Seed Bazaar, to steal seeds.

Police say they suspect Liu inadvertently locked herself in the bedroom and suffocated after trying to start a fire.

The apartment belonged to her business partner, Tang Qiqiang, who found Liu several days after she was thought to have died.

Police ruled out the possibility of homicide after investigating.

(Chutian Jinbao News)

Centenarian and wife celebrate 200 years

Luo Hongxiang recently celebrated his 100th birthday in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, on Monday - and his wife, Xie Shunhua, will be 100 years old on Friday.

The couple are in good health and able to look after themselves.

(Hunan Daily)

Chinese opera mask painter marks 2008

Sixty-three-year-old Zhu Jiannan has converted his home into a museum of traditional Chinese opera masks, in Changsha, capital of Hunan province.

Zhu has painted over 1,500 different types of Chinese opera masks in the past decade.

Zhu's biggest mask is more than 180 cm long, while the smallest is palm sized.

Zhu is hoping to have a collection of 2,008 masks, to mark the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Zhu, a member of a local calligraphy association, claims to have the largest collection of Chinese opera masks in the world.

He said he was planning to apply to Guinness World Records and become recognized as the "the king of masks".

(Changsha Evening News)

(China Daily 02/21/2008 page6)