SHANGHAI

Funfair fear

A LOT of visitors to the 2003 Shanghai Pudong World Carnival have said they had paid for a day of suffering rather than a day of fun. Many people felt sick after taking high-risk fairground rides. With cold sweat on their pale faces and dull expressions, some female visitors couldn't step out of the rides without the help of male partners. People were seen vomiting on the grass one after another, or even in groups.

Nude portraits

ABOUT 10 per cent of newly wed couples say they would like naked wedding pictures taken. Confident about their body language and willing to try novel things, more young people are asking for nude nuptial snaps. Most are white-collared workers in the city who have more contact with Western ideas and want to leave some record of themselves in their physical prime. As for worries about privacy, the photo studio explained that they would - according to customers' needs - either give the negative to the customers or destroy them in front of the customers.

Ethically retarded

A LOCAL middle school asked some students to pretend to be mentally retarded and avoid taking graduate tests so as to raise the school's examination success rate, according to Shanghai Youth Daily. The 20 weak students received a notice from their teacher saying if they could get a document from hospital proving their IQ was lower than normal, they could obtain graduation papers without taking tests.

Brutal intervention

A FATHER who beat a classmate of his son has been ordered by the Zhabei District Court to pay 5,800 yuan (US$700), including fees for medical treatment and mental anguish to the victim. On January 24, 2002, the two students, named Yang and Zhang, quarreled in the classroom. Yang's father, who was waiting outside, rushed into the room and slapped Zhang's face until Zhang covered his face with both hands. According to medico-legal experts, Zhang suffered bruising to the face and head and hearing damage in both ears.

Traffic toll

STATISTICS show that in the first four months of this year 80 people died in traffic accidents caused by their jaywalking, and the total figure for accidents of this kind reached 323 in the city. Migrant workers continue to be the main culprits. Altogether 1,019 accidents were caused by migrant workers in the first four months, and 45 were killed, an increase of 80 per cent over the same period last year.

Piling in

AMWAY recently announced a US$120 million increase in total investment in China. This accounts for the largest foreign direct investment since SARS ebbed. The money would be mainly used to introduce new product lines, enlarge the production of nutritious food and construct AMWAY stores. China has become one of the most important markets for Amway.

Testing the lawyers

SHANGHAI will launch its National Judicial Examination in October. The tests will be a prerequisite for candidates seeking to be judges, prosecutors or lawyers. This is the second examination of its kind, following the establishment of China's unified judicial examination system last year. The candidates can register at www.justice.gov.cn between July 1 to 14 or at Huaxia Hotel between July 16 to 31 to take this year's exam.

New way to stay

A CAR park for 50 vehicles, a clean canteen and home-like rooms compose the first motel - called simply "Motel" - in Shanghai. Located on Wuzhong Lu, the motel is at the level of a three-star hotel, with every room equipped with a colour TV set, an air-conditioner, telephone line and bathroom. The price ranges from 168 yuan to 398 yuan per room.

BEIJING

Generation 'e-gap'

A SURVEY has shown that 70 per cent of children expect to be able to surf the Internet with their parents. However, a lack of Internet skills allows only 20 per cent of parents to share an "e-life" with their children and Internet ignorance is hindering communication between the two generations. The survey found that parents looked for education in traditional ways and only 3.1 per cent of them used the Internet to obtain information.

TAIWAN

Sex majors

THE rate of illegitimate births in Taiwan ranks the province first in Asia. The number of college students who have had sexual experiences has also jumped sharply. Among girls between 15 and 19, up to 1.7 per cent have given birth compared with 0.4 in Japan and 1.1 in South Korea. The number of sexually experienced male and female college students has climbed to 37.5 per cent and 26.7 per cent in 1997 respectively, compared with 35.2 and 6.9 in 1988.

ZHEJIANG

Back in class

ZHOU Weimin, a 63-year-old bachelor who was expelled from university more than 40 years ago, was recently admitted to college again. Zhou had attended a university in Hangzhou but was expelled in 1960. After his expulsion, he kept himself prepared to sit for university entrance examinations and swore that he would not marry until he managed to re-enter a university. His hopes were revived in 2001 when the age limitation on university students was abolished.

HEILONGJIANG

Police chief nabbed

A FORMER director of a local police station who has been on the run for five years after shooting a colleague dead and wounding two others, has been arrested in Zhaodong. On October 24, 1998, Zhang Fu quarreled with another policeman while they were dining with colleagues. He shot the man dead and wounded two others.

LIAONING

Snores end marriage

A WIFE has divorced her husband because she could not bear his snoring any longer. The two married in 2001 and the wife, surnamed Luo, had to go upstairs to her sister's apartment on her wedding night because of her new husband's noisy snoring. Two months later, Luo moved in with her sister and did not return until her daughter was born last year. However, one month later Luo once again moved out because of her husband's snoring. She went to court for a divorce last April.

HUBEI

Ape-man sighting

TRACKS of the "wild man" (the Chinese big-foot or yeti) have been found again in Shennongjia in Hubei Province, where people saw a human-looking animal walking on the highway, according to the China News Agency. The area is famous for reported sightings of "wild man" tracks. But there is still no definite proof of the existence of such an animal. Now experts are launching a fresh investigation there.

WORLD

Bethlehem handover

JERUSALEM - Israel was preparing to hand over control of the West Bank city of Bethlehem to Palestinian security forces on Wednesday, a key step in a US-backed peace plan, after the two sides' leaders met in Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas made a joint commitment to end almost three years of conflict on Tuesday and then held talks on further steps towards peace that both sides said were positive.

(Agencies via Xinhua)