Around Beijing

1. Fangshan

Drunk noodle maker saved from well fall

Firefighters rescued a drunk noodle maker from a well after he stumbled and fell into the 30-meter-deep hole on Sunday night.

The restaurant worker named Zhang had been hanging out and drinking with a fellow villager named Xiao Li before the fall. His friend told a local newspaper that Zhang noticed his axe was leaning against the side of the well and bent down to pick it up but lost his balance.

Local firefighters took 20 minutes to pull Zhang out of the well on a line.

Medical staff said he did not have any serious injuries but was suffering from shock and had bruising.

2. Tongzhou

New Chinese-style Disneyland set for city

Tongzhou district is planning to build a huge amusement park that will be similar to the world-famous Disneyland, but Chinese-style.

Wang Yunfeng, a Tongzhou district official, said the attraction will be designed as a theme park, with themed figures from China's history and culture featured.

Because of intellectual property rights concerns, Wang refused to say more about the details of the proposed park at this time but said more details will be coming.

3. Haidian

Cat-napping cat thief caught asleep in bed

A man who allegedly broke into a neighbor's home was caught by police after he fell asleep in the bed.

The house owner, surnamed Wang from Haidian district, said she found her house had been locked from the inside after she returned home looking for documents that morning. She called police who arrived and opened the door, catching the alleged offender, surnamed Cheng, asleep in Wang's bed.

Beijing Youth Daily reported that Cheng admitted to breaking into Wang's home with the help of a duplicate key. He said he first broke in on Jan 3 and made off with 800 yuan but returned on the 14th and grabbed another 500 yuan before he fell asleep.

Fake car buyers may be held accountable

With the municipal government strengthening its control of car purchasing in a bid to ease traffic gridlock, many locals have been lending their ID cards to non-Beijingers wanting to buy a vehicle.

Yang Haichao, from Haidian district court, warned people thinking of lending out their ID cards that there are two reasons why they should think twice.

Yang said disputes may occur between the vehicle buyers and the ID card owners if there is subsequently an accident involving the illegally-bought car and the injured parties are seeking compensation.

And he warned that people will likely be regretful if they lend their IDs because only one car can be bought with each ID card and legitimate card holders may wish to buy a car for themselves in the future and be unable to do so.

Bogus cop jailed following dating scam

Ma Zhigang, a 57-year-old who passed himself off as a policeman in order to date several women and who subsequently tricked at least one into giving him money, has been sentenced to two years in prison in Haidian court.

The court handed down the sentence on Monday.

The sentencing followed a trial during which the court heard that Ma met the women through a matchmaking agency.

One of the victims told Beijing Times that a matchmaking agency introduced her to a man using the name Ma Xin in May 2010. She said he told her he was a police officer and she said he always hung a police uniform in his car.

She said her mother needed to cash an endowment insurance policy and asked Ma to collect the money. She said he took the money and disappeared.

WIFI set to cover whole city this year

WIFI service will be extended to the whole city before the end of 2011, covering everywhere within the Fifth Ring Road as well as the centers of suburban districts and counties outside the ring road.

The number of WIFI service sites, which is currently around 5,000, will be increased significantly to ensure people will be able to log onto the Internet any time and any place, Qianlong.com reported, quoting He Ning, general manager of China Mobile Beijing Branch.

He said the wireless service will include features such as live traffic updates and governmental polling.

Migrant workers get pay before holidays

Many migrant workers collected salaries owed to them on Tuesday ahead of leaving the city to go back to their hometowns for family reunions.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice launched a campaign to protect the migrant workers' rights starting in December and targeted helping workers who were having difficulty collecting money owed to them.

Legal aid cases involving migrant workers trying to get wages owed to them have made up more than 60 percent of all the city's legal aid cases during the past three years.