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SCMP Reporter

BEIJING
Designer’s deadly grudge
A designer at the Palace Museum  went on trial yesterday for the fatal stabbing of two colleagues over an argument at work, The Beijing News reports. Last October, the 50-year-old defendant, named Zheng, who was in charge of designing exhibits,  reportedly found some floorboards and exhibits that weren’t well maintained, and some places that had not used flame-retardant materials. He killed one director in the toilet, and stabbed the other to death in the canteen.
Dad takes hard knocks
A father who offered himself as a “human punching bag” outside the China World Trade Centre  has ended his act after raising 500,000 yuan (HK$630,000) in four days for his cancer-stricken baby son, the Beijing Youth Daily  reports.  The boy was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia  in October, when he was not yet a year old. The family spent all they had on treatment in Beijing after selling their home in Sichuan. The son has received a bone marrow transplant from his father, but he needs follow-up treatment.
GUANGDONG
Chicken thief deported
An illegal immigrant from Vietnam has been deported after he was caught trying to steal a chicken in Zhongshan on Monday, the New Express reports. The man  told police that he sneaked into Guangzhou in March and moved to Zhongshan, where all his money was stolen. He said that he was so hungry that he tried steal a chicken for food but was discovered by local villagers.  
Plants confiscated
Customs inspectors have confiscated nearly 1,000 succulent plants from a woman’s luggage at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport,  the Nanfang Daily  reports. The woman, who also sells the plants, told inspectors she brought them from South Korea. Succulents such as aloe and cacti are popular indoor plants on the mainland but are subject to strict quarantine due to biosecurity concerns.
GUANGXI
Runaway locomotive
A railway locomotive broke through a brick wall and hit a residential compound in Liuzhou  yesterday, China Central Television reports. No injuries were reported in the accident. Local railway officials said the locomotive was used for shunting rolling stock inside the rail yard, not for long-distance transport. A mechanical failure was blamed for the accident. 
Car lot opens in schoolyard
Parents of primary pupils in Fangchenggang were stunned to find that a 2,000 square metre car dealership had opened on the school’s grounds, China National Radio reports. School authorities said the decision was approved by the local government and that rent income from the business would repay debts and fund further development of the school.
HENAN
Bicycle made for two
A 27-year-old man in Luoyang  attracted a large crowd with a wedding parade of 56 bicycles, the Dahe Daily reports. The avid cyclist started planning the event a month ago and asked a local bike club for volunteers.  His bride, who had never cycled before, joined the groom on a tandem bike. 
Named and shamed
Traffic police in the province have made public the licence plate numbers of 70 cars whose drivers exceeded the speed limit by more than 50 per cent,  People.com.cn  reports. The release coincided with National Transport Safety Day  on Tuesday. The speed expressway speed limit is 120km/h and most serious offenders exceeded it by 80 per cent. Drivers who exceed the speed limit by more than 50 per cent face fines of up to 2,000 yuan, 12 points off their licence or even disqualification.
SHANDONG
Three pupils die in crash
Three pupils died and one was injured when a school bus rolled into a ditch in Dongying on Tuesday,  Dlwzzz.com   reports. The injured student was in stable situation.  The accident came two weeks after an overloaded kindergarten bus in Penglai collided with a truck, killing 12 people, 11 of whom were children. 
Teen’s game move
An 18-year-old boy has been arrested in Linyi for stealing more than 40,000 yuan from his neighbour to buy online game equipment, the Qilu Evening News  reports. The boy was apprehended at an internet bar where he confessed to police that he spent all the stolen money on credits to upgrade his online gaming equipment.
SICHUAN
Marriage fees dropped
Registrations for marriages or divorce will be free of charge in Chengdu from next year, Scol.com.cn reports. The local government said the move would improve the marriage registration service.  At present, couples pay a nine-yuan fee for marriage or divorce certificates. More than 230,000 couples filed for marriage or divorce in the city last year.
Baby panda on film
Surveillance cameras have captured the first images of a wild panda mother nursing a baby in the Jiuzhaigou conservation zone,  the Chengdu Economic Daily reports. Photos showed the mother carrying the baby gently in her mouth in a bamboo forest. Experts said the baby was probably born early this year, and they usually stayed with their mothers for about three years.
XINJIANG
Snow cracks greenhouses
Heavy snowfalls have caused more than 1.4 million yuan in damage to greenhouses in the far western province, the China News Service reports. A cold front from southern Siberia brought as much as 31cm of snow to the Yili Kazakh autonomous prefecture,  the northernmost tip of Xinjiang. Some local roads are buried under 2 metres of snow. Local agricultural officials said 57 greenhouses had been seriously damaged since November 26.
Blizzard fitness
Firefighters the world over are renowned for their fitness, but those in the province have been training outdoors in sub-zero  weather wearing only vests to stay tough, People.cn reports. Temperatures in Altay prefecture dropped to minus 25 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and the firefighters wore only white vests, and green camouflage pants as they exercised outdoors with weights, burpees  and a 5km run in the snow.
ZHEJIANG
Reform chief jailed
A deputy chief of the development and reform bureau in impoverished Yongjia county has been jailed for 11 years for bribery and fined 30,000 yuan, Jcrb.com,  the online portal of the Procuratorate Daily  reports. Ye Jianping was convicted of abusing his power to seek profit for others, and accepting bribes of more than 550,000 yuan. Authorities have confiscated his assets.
	
	Blood test dodge backfires
A woman who attempted to dilute her blood sample to escape a drink driving conviction was handed a harsher sentence by a local court on Tuesday, Chinanews.com reports. Traffic police questioned the woman following a car accident in September, and suspecting she had been drinking, sent her for a blood alcohol test. However, the test result showed a very low alcohol concentration. After checking surveillance footage, police discovered the woman secretly took her sample to the toilet and diluted it with water. She was given a three-month suspended prison sentence and fined 6,000 yuan.
 


Dad takes hard knocks; car lot opens in school yard; blood test dodge backfires

A photo of wild panda mother carrying her baby in the Jiuzhaigou Conservation Zone in northern Sichuan province. The young panda is thought to be several months old. Photo: SCMP Pictures 

News

China Insider

A designer at the Palace Museum  went on trial yesterday for the fatal stabbing of two colleagues over an argument at work,
