Chinese police beat official's wife by mistake (Reuters)

Reuters - Plainclothes police severely beat the wife of a provincial official, mistaking her for one of many Chinese who petition government offices in the hope of redressing wrongs, the China Daily reported on Wednesday.---...More

Chinese Girl Suffers from Strange Condition

Qingqing, a 13-year-old girl in China’s southwestern city of Chongqing, suffers from a strange sickness: She roars and goes into convulsions every few minutes. Her family has taken her from one ---...More

Fake Chinese banknotes still stinging shoppers

BEIJING (Reuters) – A flood of counterfeit Chinese banknotes that has alarmed consumers stocking up on gifts ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, was still stinging shoppers on Thursday despite government pledges of a crackdown.

China's central bank warned consumers last week to be wary of counterfeits, after local media said high-quality fake banknotes had been found in 14 provinces across the country.

"I was so unfortunate. How could I get a fake note? It looked real in my eyes," a reporter surnamed Zhao told Reuters, after her 50-yuan (five pound) note was refused by cash-detecting machines in Beijing.

Zhao said several of her friends had also been stung by fake 50-yuan bills, amid media reports fake notes were being openly sold in southern China and had appeared in Hong Kong and Macau.

The sale of these notes appeared to be rife in Guangdong, with several online sellers in the southern province bordering Hong Kong boasting their notes could "cheat detectors," the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said.

One website ( http://szhy2008.cn) calling itself a "direct distributor" of Taiwan-made fake currency, but carrying a phone number with an area code for China's southern city of Shenzhen, was selling batches of notes for 15 yuan per 100 yuan bill.

The spread of fake banknotes has raised warning bells in Taiwan, after Chinese media reports suggested they had originated from the self-ruled island.

In recent years, an issue of newly minted notes has decreased the incidence of fake bills in China which was once awash with counterfeit notes. But most shopkeepers keep cash-detectors, and the ritual of stroking a note and holding it up to the light remains common among local consumers.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Beijing, James Pomfret in Hong Kong and Ralph Jennings in Taipei; Editing by Valerie Lee)

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Chinese restaurant shut down for butchering a possible road kill deer inside

Hamburg - A Chinese restaurant in the Town of Hamburg was shut down by the Erie County Health Department Friday after an inspector found employees butchering a deer inside.
Officials don’t know whether the dead deer at China King, 5999 South Park Ave., had been hunted or if it was road kill.
“From our standpoint, it doesn’t matter,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Anthony J. Billittier IV. “They can’t do what we think they did.” More...
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Chinese wins tightrope contest across Seoul river

SEOUL, South Korea - A professional tightrope walker from China zipped along a wire strung across the Han River in just under 11 minutes to win Seoul's second international high-wire championship, which concluded Saturday.

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Yakefujiang Maimitili, competing Friday on the second day of the three-day contest, beat 26 other competitors in traversing the three-quarter-mile-long wire to claim the $20,000 prize.

Colombia's Alan Martinez came in second place with a time of 11 minutes, 23 seconds. Last year's winner, Abudusataer Wujiabudula of China, finished in 11 minutes, 28 seconds, for third place.

Maimitili, 20, said he has been a tightrope walker since the age of 7, following in his ethnic Uighur family's tradition in his native Xinjiang in northwestern China.

"I was really excited while I was walking on the rope," Maimitili said Saturday.

Tightrope walking is also a Korean tradition going back centuries, with performers often leaping and turning somersaults in midair — and sometimes even cracking jokes — to entertain onlookers.

A 2005 film, "The King and the Clown," which featured a troupe of entertainers who became court jesters, rejuvenated interest in the Korean tradition.

Organizer Kwon Won-tae, a professional tightrope walker who did the stunt work in the film, also competed this week. He credited the competition with keeping the tradition of tightrope walking alive, and said he hopes to eventually compete in communist North Korea.

"Sometime in the future, I want to hold this high-wire championship across the Taedong River in Pyongyang," North Korea's capital, he said Saturday.

Onlookers watched as competitors walked along the 1.2-inch-thick wire, supported by 69-foot-tall towers on the north and south banks of the Han River, which divides the South Korean capital.

No one needed the safety net slung under the wire. Colombia's Marcos Luis Martinez lost his balance at one point but caught himself and managed to run across.

"I am so proud of myself to finish my performance on the single-strand wire," he said.

Ayaixiguli Maimitili, who said she came from China to watch six fellow Uighurs compete in Seoul, including the winner, decided to try her hand at crossing the tightrope — with bowls on her head.

"Traditionally, Uighur women put bowls on their head to keep their balance," she said.

The competitors hailed from 14 countries, including Tino Wallenda and his daughter Aurelia of the "Flying Wallendas" high-wire act.

Onlookers later had the chance to try walking a shorter tightrope — not as high up — themselves.

"I felt nervous and cool at the same time," said tourist Kai Schneider, 22, from Germany.
On the Net: High Wire World Championship: http://www.x-highwire.org/eng/

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Make Fun Of His Noodles and Get Whacked With Cleaver

Hong Kong - A chef in a Hong Kong noodle bar was under arrest on Tuesday for allegedly attacking a woman with a meat cleaver when she complained about the quality of his food.

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The 47-year-old woman was assaulted after she grumbled about the meal she was served on Monday in the noodle bar in the city's Wan Chai district, police said.

The chef, 50, allegedly grabbed a meat cleaver from the kitchen after the woman made a "rude remark" to him and landed several blows to her head before being restrained by fellow diners.

The chef was being detained for questioning for while the woman was rushed to hospital where her condition was described as "stable". - Sapa-dpa




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Odd News-Chinese learn to party at Olympics beach volleyball

Odd NEws-Chinese learn to party at Olympics beach volleyball

BEIJING (Reuters) - While the beach volleyballers tough it out in the sand, Tom Blaumauer and Chris McGee have faced an Olympic challenge of their own: how to encourage the Chinese to throw a Californian beach party.

Rock music, go-go-girls and rowdy singing in the stands have become as integral a part of beach volleyball as bikinis and board shorts but before Beijing, the announcers were worried the conservative Chinese might not catch the bug.

"We didn't know if they would react to the Western-style music we play. If not, what do you use?" said Blaumauer, who has led the commentary and entertainment at world tour events since the trend started about 12 years ago.

"Chinese music is just not so rocky and poppy. We need people up there stamping their feet. If they're sitting down and swaying gently, it's not so great."

Blaumauer and McGee, the voices of the U.S. tour, worked with Chinese announcers and DJs to put together potential playlists and taught volunteers how to get the crowd up and dancing.

A week into the event and "We will rock you" and "Minnie the Moocher" (Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-hi) were working as well in the 12,200-seat Chaoyang Park stadium as anywhere in the world.

The Beach Boys and Robbie Williams, however, were struggling unless there was a quorum of international fans.

A lot was lost in translation the other way as well, as tourists were bemused by high-pitched Chinese ballads and the rousing nationalistic chorus "Ode to the Motherland" that has all the Chinese on their feet and singing at the top of their voices.

"We go by who's here and what's going to work," Blaumauer said as a mixed crowd launched in to "Put your hands up in the air." He reckoned a tenth of the music they played was Chinese.

CROWD FUN

On the sand, McGee and his Chinese counterpart try to teach the crowd the rules of the game and hand moves to celebrate certain points, like a double-armed wave to German rap refrain "Mein block" when a player blocks the ball at the net.

The international crowd love it. The Chinese are not so sure, although they are becoming dab hands at the Mexican wave.

Certain players also have their own tunes like "American Woman" for the U.S. women's teams, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" for the Australians and "Zorba the Greek" for, well, the Greeks.

Critics say the high-octane party atmosphere shows that beach volleyball is a lifestyle sport that has no place in the Olympics but given that events like weight lifting are now pumping up the music to keep people going, it seems they were on to something.

"You don't want people falling asleep in their seats," said Sinjin Smith, a former top player who has helped put together the entertainment program. "That's not going to happen here."

(Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)