'Teenage warriors' discovered in China's ancient terracotta armyOctober 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Beardless warriors had been discovered among China's terracotta army, providing evidence of the youthful ages of some soldiers when the army was created more than 2,000 years ago. "Some warriors have no beards, but for ancient Chinese, facial hair was part of the culture, so those warriors could be considered to represent soldiers under 17 years old," said Yuan Zhongyi, honorary curator of the Museum of the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang, in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
Seduction, sedatives, stealing South Asian style in ShanghaiSeptember 22nd, 2009 SHANGHAI - Two young couples from a South Asian country have been arrested in connection with the robberies, which netted cash and goods worth about 100,000 yuan,or 14,600 dollars, local media reported Monday. The city's local procuratorate said that on July 22, one of the female suspects began talking with a man from the Netherlands at a bar in the city.
China spends $146 bn on ecology in decadeSeptember 6th, 2009 BEIJING - China has spent nearly 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) on ecological conservation and environmental protection over the past decade, a senior official said Sunday. Of the total expenditure, more than 700 billion yuan went to projects to reforest cultivated land, return grazing land to protected grassland, protect natural forests and conserve river sources on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and for the south-to-north water diversion programme, according to Du Ying, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission.
Beijing has largest number of rich people in China: Hurun ReportAugust 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A new report has revealed that Beijing has the maximum number of rich people in China. The latest Hurun Report on China's wealthiest people said that there are 143,000 multimillionaires and 8,800 billionaires in Beijing.
Ratio of home price to income in Beijing is now 27 to 1August 22nd, 2009 BEIJING - The ratio of home price to income in Beijing is now 27 to 1, five times the international average, according to a real estate agency, which made the calculation based on government statistics. Data from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics indicates that if a family has two wage earners both making the city's average income of 28,289 Yuan (4,142 dollars) in the first half of the year, their annual household income would be 113,000 Yuan.
Taiwan typhoon toll rises to 136August 19th, 2009 TAIPEI - The toll in typhoon Morakot that devastated the country Aug 7 has risen to 136 Wednesday, officials said. Six rescue workers were also killed during the relief work, emergency officials said.
Shanghai woman prepays cell phone bill worth 15,000 yuan by mistake!August 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - A Shanghai-based woman recently prepaid her cell phone bill worth a staggering 15,000 yuan by mistake. Considering that she never makes more than 20 yuan worth of calls from her phone each month, Zhang may not have to recharge her phone for about 63 years.
51,000 Chinese qualified to be country's 'new aristocrats'July 30th, 2009 SHANGHAI - There are 51,000 people in China who are qualified to be called "new aristocrats". That's according to the latest research by Hurun Report, which specializes in tracking the wealthy, reports the China Daily.
Japanese boss ordered to publicly apologise after accusing woman of stealing his pantsJuly 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A court recently ordered a Japanese businessman to publicly apologise to one of the woman employee he had wrongly accused of stealing his trousers in Wuhan, Hubei province.. The businessman has also been ordered to pay "spiritual damages" to the tune of 1,000 yuan to the woman.
Elderly gets glued to burglar like magnet!July 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - An old man in China bravely held on to a burglar trying to break into his house, even after he bit the elderly on his arm. The 60-something man in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province leaped on to the burglar and refused to leave him until cops arrived.
IMF sees Chinese progress currency reform, but some members still believe yuan is undervaluedJuly 22nd, 2009 Some IMF members say China's currency undervaluedWASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund is welcoming China's progress in letting the market determine the value of its currency, the yuan, but says some countries believe it remains "substantially undervalued."
The IMF says many members believe further strengthening the yuan should be part of a comprehensive Chinese strategy to rebalance the economy, but others say it would play only a supporting role toward promoting changes. In its annual report on the Chinese economy, the IMF did not name individual countries' positions on the yuan.
China's forex reserves top $2.13 trillion in JuneJuly 15th, 2009 BEIJING - China's foreign exchange reserves topped $2.13 trillion by the end of June, up 17.84 percent year-on-year, the People's Bank of China said Wednesday. About $185.6 billion were added to the world's largest official foreign exchange reserves in the first half of the year, but that figure is about $95 billion less than the same period a year ago, said the central bank.
Shangai man changes suicide plan after receiving 2,000 yuan from firefightersJune 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - A Shangai man decided not to kill himself after firefighters met his demands, and paid him 2,000 yuan not to jump off a building. Drunk Shangai man climbed up the scaffolding to the top of the 70-m-high building, and claimed that he was penniless, reports the China Daily.
Man seeks 1 yuan compensation for 20,000 'errors' in popular dictionary!April 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A Chinese man is seeking 1 yuan in damages after accusing the Commercial Press for printing more than 20,000 mistakes in its Xinhua Dictionary. Chen, from Beijing, alleged he could site 22,638 errors in the 10th edition of the most popular dictionary in China, which was first published in 1957.
Chinese restaurant's noodle eating challengeApril 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A Chinese restaurant became an instant success after issuing a noodle eating challenge to its customers. The restaurant has told customers in Dongguan, Guangdong province that it will give 5,000 yuan to any person who can gobble down 20 bowls of hand-pulled noodles within 70 minutes, reports the China Daily.