BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have arrested three men for killing two young women to sell their corpses as "ghost brides" for dead single men, a Chinese newspaper reported, warning the dark custom might have claimed many other victims.

Yang Donghai, a 35-year-old farmer in western China's Shaanxi province, confessed to killing a woman bought from a poor family for 12,000 yuan ($1,545) last year.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A retired Chinese couple have advertised for a "daughter" to look after them in place of their son who has emigrated to Canada -- and more than 100 candidates signed up to try their luck, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

Tian Zhendong and Ding Shuhui, a former construction expert and a university professor from central Wuhan, felt "lonely and lost" after their only son moved to Canada with his wife, even though he called home every week, the Guangzhou Daily said.

But he didn't want to come back to China.

Stamps released in China to celebrate the Year of the Pig taste of sweet and sour pork.

When you scratch the front of the stamps, it smells of the popular chinese dish and when the back of the stamp is licked it tastes of the dish too.

The stamps are on sale in China ahead of their New Year on February 18, reports Metro.

Royal Mail launched Britain's first scratch 'n' sniff stamp in 2001 - they gave off eucalyptus aromas.

Flame Mountain in Turufan

Is this punishment too extreme? Is China such a safe place that jail space is well used in this way?

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese man has been jailed for four years for robbing two 12-year-old boys of the equivalent of seven U.S. cents, after a court decided his "outrageous" crime deserved a harsh penalty, the Beijing News said on Tuesday.

Li Fushou, 20, robbed the pupils last March as they left their primary school in Huadu, a suburb of Guangzhou, capital city of the southern Guangdong province, the newspaper said.

"He dragged them into an alley and demanded 20 yuan ($2.6) as a fee to join a gang, threatening to beat them with a bicycle lock if they did not comply," it said.

From personal ads posted on Asexual Marriage Net, a marriage broker website in China.

Sex has never interested me. In fact, I find it a little filthy. The doctor told me this is common, but it is not a short-term feeling I can change. I hope to find a girl in the same plight. One day we can walk down the aisle together, raise children, support our parents, and spend our energy on work and living a good, happy life.
—Little Jiang, male, age twenty-three

I’m an elegant, honest, intellectual woman who likes platonic love affairs and wishes for this kind of marriage. We can establish a family that is warm and sexless.
—Feng Yalan, female, twenty-four

link

I kid you not

The world's tallest man has saved the lives of two dying dolphins in China by reaching deep into their stomachs to pull out pieces of plastic, official Chinese media reported on Thursday.

At an aquarium in the northeastern city of Fushun, doctors failed to remove the plastic with surgical instruments because the pieces were difficult to grasp, Xinhua news agency said. The arms of ordinary people were too short to reach the stomachs.

Bao Xishun, a 2.36 metre (7 foot 9 inch) herdsman who is listed by Guinness World Records as the tallest living man, was therefore summoned from the nearby Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, Xinhua reported.

Information for expats living in Urumqi from Jonathan of Fubar (thanks!)

Housing

At the lower end of the market a 60 sq/m furnished apartment in a relatively new complex, located close to the city centre costs about 700-800 per month, on a 1-year contract. Check if the heating and management fee are included in the rent. At the higher end, a new 140 sq/m unfurnished centrally located apartment would cost in the region of 3000 per month ex utilities.

Of course, you will need to register at the local police station when moving, and I have heard stories of local police refusing to register foreigners in certain parts of the city, effectively preventing them moving into the district.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese province has banned its tourists from wearing counterfeit clothes overseas to avoid flagrant abuse of intellectual property rights and to protect its image, local media said on Tuesday.

The government in the northeastern province of Jilin had also banned carrying or sending pirated goods, including CDs and DVDs, overseas, the Beijing News reported.

"Jilin government ... requests the carrying out of a strict crackdown and regulation of counterfeit goods and discs sent by post or carried overseas. Wearing counterfeit brands overseas is also not permitted," the paper quoted an official notice as saying.