Around China

Guizhou

Tourist destroys stalactite at park

An investigation has been launched into a case in which a male tourist destroyed an ancient stalactite at Qianlongdong scenic spot in Tongren on May 29. The man broke off the 30-centimeter stalactite by kicking it three times, according to worker from the scenic spot, who said it had taken more than 100 million years for the rock formation to form. According to Beijing News, police fined the man 500 yuan($75).

Qilu Evening News

Zhejiang

Ring dropped in plane toilet found

A man, surnamed Shen, thanked two airport workers at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport for finding a diamond ring worth more than 300,000 yuan ($44,000) that he accidentally dropped in the toilet onboard a flight on May 21. Yao Wei and Wang Chuan removed their shoes and socks to look for the ring at the airport's sewage disposal center after the plane landed. They eventually found the ring after an hour of searching through the sewage.

Hangzhou Daily

Boy skips school to find mother

A 13-year-old boy who played truant to look for his mother was found alone on a train traveling from Ningbo to Chongqing on May 19. The boy told police he took the train to look for his mother to persuade her not to divorce his father. He said his parents are divorcing and his mother had left the family home to move back to her hometown in Guizhou province. Police contacted the boy's mother, who promised to meet her son at the railway station when the train arrived and asked police to accompany him during the journey.

Knews.com

Guangdong

8,000 vials opened to save patient

A man who ingested an agricultural chemical to commit suicide was saved when eight medical workers opened 8,000 vials of medicine barehanded in Shantou on May 18. The workers were racing against time to open the vials to collect enough medicine to help the patient detoxify. It took them about 12 hours to open the vials to get enough medicine to save the patient. Some of the workers were bleeding from their fingers after being cut by the glass.

China Central Television

Woman fakes her own kidnapping

A young woman who colluded with a fraudster in staging her kidnapping to extort ransom money from her family was recently detained in Guangzhou. Police set up a task force to investigate the case after receiving a report from a resident who said his 20-year-old daughter had been kidnapped and he had been asked to pay a 500,000-yuan ($73,500) ransom. He received photos showing his daughter tied up and gagged. Two days later, the daughter was found to be safe in a hotel in Foshan. She confessed to the crime and said she had done it because she had been defrauded in a telephone scam and persuaded to commit the crime to get some money back.

Information Times

Beijing

Exploding mug cuts lip, breaks tooth

A woman, surnamed Wang, had to be taken to hospital for treatment on May 20 after a mug she was drinking warm water from exploded. She broke a tooth and required four stitches in a cut on her lip. Wang said she had used the mug for about a year without any problems, adding that she purchased it for 5 yuan(75US cents) from a foreign-funded store, which promised to give her a refund.

Legal Evening News

Watermelons given as graduation gifts

The China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing turned a lawn into a watermelon patch overnight after purchasing more than 3,500 watermelons as gifts for students who graduate this summer. The site attracted a large number of students, teachers and members of the public on June 1, many of whom took photos of the fruit. One student described the graduation gift as unique.

Beijing Morning Post