"Many public projects went into deficit from the moment they were completed."

- Professor Deng Xiaomei of Tsinghua University noting that because many public constructions were built to impress, as the first, largest, or most advanced of their kind, their high

investment leads to long-term, high expense during their operation.

"First you have to be a billionaire and second you must have lived overseas. Then we have a strict procedure to check your identity."

- An employee of a residential development in Shanghai - judged the most luxurious building in China - describing the company's expectations about its future residents at a promotion in Beijing.

"The Japanese think of whales as gods to worship. So it's confusing that they also love to kill them to satisfy their stomachs."

- Historians of the Japanese attitude to whales expressing their puzzlement. Japan has tried to persuade the International Whaling Commission to double the quota of whales to be killed in the Antarctic Ocean, a move strongly opposed by Australia.

"We know you died on January 28, 2005."

- Words to an 82-year-old German woman who went to pick up her pension. She was asked to provide evidence that "I'm still alive."

"If you enter our school you will definitely be able to go on to study at a key university in three years time."

- A high school in North China's Tianjin Municipality promoting itself to potential students in Shandong, Henan and Hebei provinces. Even though the total cost for the three-year study programme surpasses 100,000 yuan (US$12,048), there were many applicants.