Kids compete in cross-Straits drawing
SIX-year-old Wu Ye, who has a pencil behind her right ear, is attentively drawing the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Pudong's riverside park along the east bank of Huangpu River.
Diamond plan
DIAMONDS, which have graced the necklaces of the late Princess Diana, US First Lady Hillary Clinton and Kate Winslet in blockbuster film "Titanic," are proving increasingly popular with China's consumers as earnings rise, especially in Shanghai.
Shipping soup in Shanghai
LAST week was a tough week to get through any year. You must, like Caesar, beware the Ides of March (15) and either proclaim your ethnic origins or become honourary Irish for a day on St Patrick's Day (17). In Shanghai, you also have to cope with the fickle March weather.
Chess master makes first move on-line
JOINTLY sponsored by Shanghai Chess Association and Shanghai Lotof Network Information Technology Co Ltd, a long-running chess match at www.lotof.com on the web was kicked off on Saturday.
Tourism development at top of agenda
SHANGHAI plans to transform itself into an international tourist metropolis by 2015, according to Zhou Muyao, vice-mayor of Shanghai. Zhou was speaking at the city's first tourism working conference which closed on Sunday.
Campaign to prevent polio comeback
AN incidence of polio (also known as infantile paralysis) in October in Northwest China's Qinghai Province has prompted a warning from experts that children from abroad must be vaccinated against the disease either before or soon after they come to Shanghai.
Women seek access to legal consultation
A 50-YEAR-OLD woman says tearfully she has sued for divorce four times over the past nine years, but she has been denied each time over property disputes.
Controversy over keeping city wall
SHANGHAI city wall was built in a matter of months in 1553 to repel Japanese pirates, but it took more than 10 years to demolish it.
Students broaden horizons overseas
PHOTOGRAPHS of Chinese high-fliers who studied in Britain adorned the entrance to the British Education Exhibition 2000, held two weeks ago in Shanghai.
Rush to wed breeds crime
THE proverb "marry in haste repent at leisure" took on a whole new meaning for two Shanghai residents recently.
Court fines nose biter $348
HONGKOU District Court has ordered a 38-year-old man named Liu who bit a bus driver's nose with such force that it required seven stitches to close the wound to pay 2,884 yuan ($348) in medical expenses and damages.
Robbers ring up call-girls
By Feng Xuedong
A BOOK described as a "goldmine" by a debtor, because it listed the telephone numbers of call-girls, brought two men suspected of robbing four prostitutes before the Yangpu District Procuratorate recently. Zhou Rusong and Zhou Fenjun from Huai'an, in East China's Jiangsu Province, tried to demand the payment of a debt from another man. Instead of paying them in cash, the debtor proposed to give them a telephone diary in which were noted phone numbers of a lot of prostitutes. The debtor said cryptically that "they could dig gold in these phone numbers." The two Zhous agreed to the terms of payment and acted quickly. On January 26, they checked into a hotel room with a borrowed identification card. Then they phoned a prostitute by dialling a number in the telephone diary, saying they needed sex service. When the girl entered the room, they pointed a false pistol at her and said they were demanding she pay a debt she owed a friend of theirs. But the girl knew nothing of the matter. They then began to bind her arms and feet with cut lengths of bath towels and sealed her mouth with a piece of tape, threw her into a bathtub, and robbed the girl. Not content with the proceeds of their robbery, they called another girl who was then subjected to similar treatment. They checked out of the hotel soon after the second robbery. A hotel staff member found the two girls early next morning and reported the case to police. Before police could took any action, the two men robbed two other prostitutes in a similar manner two days later. Altogether, they robbed the four girls of four mobile phones, 500 yuan ($60) and some jewellery. The two Zhous were prosecuted recently at the district procuratorate.
Copyright 2000 by Shanghai Star. All rights reserved.