Last Friday, county education official, Bao Xuwei, was participating in disaster relief efforts in Taishun, Zhejiang when he was caught on camera being carried by two insurance company employees over a muddy street. The incident didn’t go over well with the public, who felt that Bao was abusing his power as a government official.

Bao explained that he had not worn waterproof shoes, and that the insurance employees had only carried him for a few seconds. Despite his protestations, Bao was dismissed on Friday, the same day an investigation into the incident was announced.

Photographer Hu Liming has apologized for his part in the incident. Hu said he only wanted to show people helping others during the disaster relief, and Bao’s photo was one of many such photos.

The post Chinese Official Fired For Being Carried In Typhoon Disaster Zone To Keep His Shoes Clean appeared first on The Nanfang.

Did they, or didn’t they have plastic surgery? That’s the question being asked at Wanli University in Zhejiang as ten former students’ grad photos were substantially different from the photos from their third year of high school.

There are many reasons that could explain the radical change: a loss of weight, make-up, a change of clothes or hairstyle. And yet, despite the implausibility of a university having the time and money to withdraw from their studies, another possible explanation is plastic surgery. One the one hand, that may sound insulting, but on the other hand that could be a roundabout way of explaining the unbelievable transformation by which adolescence blossoms into adulthood.

Here are the transformations so that you can judge for yourself. Is it just growing up, or is it plastic surgery? We’re not sure, but we think longer hair with bangs and turning up the contrast on Photoshop may have to do with it:

The post Did These 10 Zhejiang University Students Have Plastic Surgery? appeared first on The Nanfang.

The announcement comes after a successful pilot program held at ten of the province’s universities and colleges this past March.

At least one condom machine will be installed at each of the 128 post-secondary schools in Zhejiang over the next year. Students will be able to get a free box of condoms by swiping their student ID card on the machine, which presumably will make their identity known. As such, it’s unclear how many will use the free condoms.

Zhejiang health and family planning official Li Danhe admitted that it wasn’t easy trying to persuade parents to go along with the plan. “Some colleges said they were concerned such a move would encourage sex and would incur opposition and complaints from students’ parents,” said Li.

Further south, the rate of HIV infection is skyrocketing among university students in Guangzhou, growing at an annual rate of 46 percent. This increase is reflected in the national rate, especially in cases involving “male-to-male” sexual transmission.

Meanwhile, China’s younger generation have shown themselves to be considerably less prudish than their parents when it comes to pre-marital sex. A Ministry of Education survey from this past June shows that some 60 percent of respondents say they approve of sex before marriage, while only 16 percent are against.

However, sex education and awareness programs in Chinese universities have faced resistance for some time now. In 2004, Peking University called off plans to hand out free condoms on World AIDS Day because school administrators feared it would encourage students to have sex.

Despite this progressive plan, educational institutions in China still don’t appear to be reforming their conservative attitudes towards sex. Recently, a Xi’an, Shaanxi college has face controversy online for forcing its female students to sign a chastity pledge to refrain from pre-marital sex, while a Jilin school was reported to ban students from public displays of affection such as feeding each other in the school cafeteria.

The post Zhejiang Universities to Hand Out Free Condoms to Students appeared first on The Nanfang.

Packing winds traveling at 35 meters per second, typhoon Linfa made landfall near the City of Shantou at the eastern side of Guangdong Province yesterday at noon.

Although the National Meteorological Center had warned Linfa would have a “serious impact” on South China, emergency measures were dropped once it was was downgraded to a tropical storm two hours later. As Linfa continues to moves westward through the province, it is expected to lose strength.

However, thousands of residents had already been evacuated from coastal areas. More than 10 thousand ships were forced back to port in five cities to wait out the storm. A yellow alert established on Wednesday closed kindergartens, elementary and middle schools in 15 counties.

No injuries or deaths have been reported so far. As of 10pm yesterday, 1.6 million Guangdong residents had been affected by the typhoon, the tenth of the year.

One of the worst-hit cities, Jieyang, experienced flooding along with toppled utility poles and trees. The city’s airport canceled 53 flights, stranding 5,000 passengers. High-speed rail service between Xiamen and Shenzhen was also suspended.

Guangzhou has also experienced harsh weather conditions, particularly in Tianhe and Yuexiu districts.

Meanwhile, a second typhoon is expected to hit the eastern coastal areas of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Shanghai tonight, with warnings that this typhoon may be more destructive than Linfa.

With typhoon Chan-hom now upgraded to “super typhoon” status with its winds recorded at 187 kilometers per hour, local jurisdictions lying in the path of the typhoon have been placed on the highest alert possible.

Dong Lin of the China’s Central Meteorological Observatory says typhoon Chan-hom is much stronger than typhoon Linfa, adding that it may bring more rain.

Local authorities have already initiated emergency measures. Sixty-six trains on the Hangzhou-Shenzhen line were suspended yesterday, with another 14 scheduled to be stopped today and tomorrow.

Nangka, a third typhoon that appeared the same time as Linfa and Chan-hom, is expected not to approach China.

Here are some more photographs of typhoon Linfa’s impact:

The post One Typhoon Leaves Flooding in Guangdong, Another On Its Way to Shanghai appeared first on The Nanfang.

Zhejiang authorities are now offering cash to any Chinese people who rat out foreigners who are in the country on improper visas.

The new policy has already proved lucrative to a man named Lin, who recently reported a foreigner named “Mahadi” to the Sumeng police sub-station and received the cash award. When police investigated Lin’s tip, they discovered Mahadi lived and worked at the Erkin Board Factory, but had never registered his residence there to local authorities. As a result, Mahadi was given an administrative warning for the violation.

Even though he didn’t disclose how much he was paid, Lin encouraged all Chinese to report any suspicious foreigners that may be lurking about. “Pay attention to those foreigners around you. Use your head. You not only help the authorities find cases, but you can win an award for yourself!”

Several Chinese cities previously announced programs where citizens can win cash rewards for informing on possible terror suspects.

Beijing announced a crackdown on foreigners illegally living in the city last February.

Related:

• English Teacher in China Detained for Working Without a Permit
• Police Doing Spot Drug Tests at Beijing Bars
• Guangzhou, Foshan, and Zhaoqing to crack down on foreigners
• It’s Now Easier Than Ever for Foreigners to Get a Chinese Green Card

The post Attention, Foreigners: Chinese are Being Paid to Rat Out Laowai With Visa Violations appeared first on The Nanfang.

[Warning: this post contains violent content that some readers may find objectionable.] 

Five people fell off a motorized amusement ride in Zhejiang this afternoon, killing two.

Eyewitnesses say the five riders were not properly strapped into their seats with safety harnesses when the ride called “Crazy Scream” went into operation at a amusement park at Longshan Park in Pingyang County, Wenzhou. As a result of the accident, three park patrons fell to the ground directly below, while another two were thrown a distance away.

The deceased have been named as Chen and Zhou, both from Aojiang county. The other injured have been sent to Pingyang No. 1 Hospital where reports of their numbers vary between three and two.

Victims can be seen bleeding profusely onto the ground as bystanders are seen talking on the phone as others take pictures.

Police have shut down the park, which has been deemed as “operating illegally”. The operator of the amusement park has been taken into custody as police continue their investigation.

May 1st was the first day of operation for the amusement park.

Graphic photos taken at the scene can be seen here. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

The post Two Dead in Labor Day Amusement Park Ride Mishap [Graphic] appeared first on The Nanfang.

When a delegation from the Changnan Education Bureau wrapped up its inspection of 18 kindergartens in Longgang Town in Wenzhou on July 16, the school heads did what was customary by inviting the officials and dignitaries to a lavish banquet. The feast cost a total of RMB 5,440, jointly shared by the inspected kindergartens, the party-run newspaper said.

After rounds of ganbei or “bottom ups”, Hong Bo, deputy head of Changnan No. 3 Kindergarten, was feeling nauseated and vomited on the way home. Hong was sent to a local hospital and was found to have suffered a ruptured blood vessel in her brain. Hong is still in intensive care.

Ganbei or bottom up

Roughly five years ago, a police officer drank himself to death at a banquet with officials, and was memorialized as a martyr “who died in the line of duty”. This time when the news was first posted online by a Weibo user named 人生如梦889V, it led to an investigation by the local discipline and inspection commission in Changnan.

The local anti-graft body said the four education officials “caused severe negative social influences” and their behaviors were against President Xi Jinping’s “eight points”, an official guidance on officials’ conduct after he launched an anti-corruption campaign.

The head of the inspection team Wang Chengyu was sacked from his post as director of the local teachers’ training school and was given a two-year reprieve within the party. The other three people from the education bureau and several local teachers were given different punishments, the report said.

Banquets with local officials are often accompanied with strong rice liquor and exotic delicacies. Officials were infamous for shouting out rounds of ganbei to out drink each other.

Earlier this month, an official in Anhui drank himself to death after an alcohol-soaked dinner with higher-ranking cadres. We doubt the latest case will be the last one despite the party’s anti-corruption drive.

Photos: SCMP; Sina

The post Kindergarten Principal Suffers Stroke After Binge Drinking At Banquet appeared first on The Nanfang.

[Added pictures of bomb squad dismantling bomb directly at the scene to end of the post.]

***

One suspect has been caught after a bomb was detonated beside the entrance to a police sub-station in Wenzhou, Zhenjiang Province, reports People’s Daily. The blast happened at 9:36am today.

An eyewitness named Pan said after the device exploded, a man tried to detonate a second bomb but was caught by police.

The scene of the blast shows bomb fragments consisting of ball bearings, screws, and parts of firecrackers.

There are no reported injuries at this time. The motive of the attacker is also unknown.

UPDATE: Here are pictures of a bomb squad dismantling the bomb:

Photos: SCMP, Caijing, Hong Kong Wenqu Net (2), People’s Daily

The post Bomb Explodes Outside Wenzhou Police Station [UPDATED] appeared first on The Nanfang.

Li Ruru was sold to the Weng family that lived in Putian, Fujian, and became their daughter. The family had wanted a daughter to complement the two boys in the family. At eight or nine, Weng was told she was adopted, but it wasn’t until she reached 30 that she decided to look for her birth family.

Then, on May 9 of this year, a positive match was made in a national DNA database for missing and abducted children. It was confirmed that she was the missing daughter of parents Li Mianquan and Cai Juanjuan, born in April, 1984, and their only child.

At 1:20pm yesterday at Shenzhen Bao’an Airport and with dozens of spectators looking on, Mrs Cai and Weng met, grabbed each others’ waists, hugged, and wiped away the tears. The first thing Mrs Cai said to Weng was,

Child, is it really you?

Mrs Cai had brought along her most valuable possession after the kidnapping. For 25 years, Mrs Cai treasured the few and simple photographs that she still possessed of her young daughter. Yellowed with age and protected in laminate, Mrs Cai said that these photographs are what helped her remember her stolen child during all these years.

But now what? We’re reminded of this by the highest-rated comment on the Sohu news report with 4582 upvotes:

浮生如梦1260在搜狐:
Reuniting with one’s own family is worth celebrating. But I hope you won’t forget about your adoptive family. They took you from the traffickers and brought you home to raise ever since you were four years old. Raising and making you part of the family is not easy.

Mrs Cai knows this. While it was the illegal act of human trafficking that landed Li Ruru into the Weng family, 30 year-old Weng is not her daughter by law. As Mrs Cai said herself, she would respect whatever decision Weng may make regarding her choice to take care of either her adoptive or natural parents in their old age.

We’re happy to see mother and child reunited again, and as we said, a bold move.

Photos: Guangzhou Police via Weibo, Sohu

The post Shenzhen Woman in Emotional Reunion with Mother 25 Years After Abduction appeared first on The Nanfang.

The gang was using 22 locations to produce the mini toothpaste and 125 people were arrested on suspicion of being part of it. Among them, 31 are currently under criminal detention. Police say the criminal gang did over 20 million yuan of business.

The alarm was first raised in early June by the food and drugs department of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau. They discovered that warehouses in Baiyun District’s Taihe Village and Longcun Village were producing toiletries without a license.

They later discovered that the warehouse on 22 Yunmei Street, run by a man named Mr. He, had been operating illegally since January 2011. They also discovered that he had been distributing his ware to five provinces, which sparked the nationwide investigation.

It then emerged that Mr. He was using his contacts in other provinces to distribute fake tubes of mini toothpaste to hotels around the nation. He and his accomplices now face jail time.

In 2011, Stan Abrams of China Hearsay kindly reminded China watchers not to use the words fake and counterfeit interchangeably. However, it appears that this gang was guilty of distributing both fake and counterfeit products.

The post Toothpaste at hotels the latest item to be faked appeared first on The Nanfang.