Around China

Chongqing

Boy left alone at highway station

A mother mistakenly left her child at an expressway service station for more than an hour on July 22. She had already driven about 100 kilometers when she received a call from police saying they had spotted her son alone by the side of the road at about 11 am. The boy was separated from his mother after using the station's restroom.

Kankannews.com

Zhejiang

Smoke break helps snare armed robber

A woman, surnamed Xiao, escaped an armed robber in Jinhua after offering him a cigarette. Xiao, who had just finished a night shift, stayed calm when her assailant put a knife against her throat and instead chatted with him and promised to transfer money via her smartphone. After offering him a cigarette, they talked by the roadside before Xiao spotted an opportunity to run for help. Police soon detained the suspect, a 22-year-old surnamed Wang.

Chinanews.com.cn

Yunnan

Court fines man for buying fake bills

A fruit trader in Kunming who approached the police for help after buying hundreds of thousands of yuan in fake currency has been handed a six-month suspended sentence. The man, surnamed Yang, spent 50,000 yuan ($7,400) on counterfeit bills with a face value of 220,000 yuan in April, but contacted the police when he discovered that the "high-quality imitation bank notes" he had been offered were in fact paper money of the type burned as offerings to the dead. Panlong District People's

Court sentenced Yang on July 25 and fined him 20,000 yuan.

Yunnan.cn

Runaway child survives wilderness

A 10-year-old boy was returned to his parents on July 26 after spending almost a month alone in the wilderness. The child, identified as Miao, said he survived by eating snakes that he caught and roasted, as well as collecting herbs to help with his stomachache. He walked more than 100 kilometers in the 24 days he was missing, sleeping by the side of forest tracks each night. Miao, who was covered in muck and filth when he was found, told officers that he had run away from home because his father had beaten him.

Yunnan.cn

Sichuan

Salon faces lawsuit over loyalty cards

A widower has been advised to sue a beauty salon in Chengdu after it refused to refund his late wife's customer loyalty cards, which had a total balance of more than 90,000 yuan ($13,380). The man, surnamed Huang, said he had found 147 cards after his wife's death in July 2015. The local consumer council attempted to mediate, but after talks broke down, Huang was told his best option is a lawsuit.

Thepaper.cn

Shanghai

Parking feud comes to a sticky end

A resident of the city's Jingan district had her garage door glued shut after filing a complaint against the owner of a luxury car who kept parking there. Zhang Xin approached the property manager of her building on July 24 to complain about the car and was given the key to the garage, with the offending vehicle locked inside. The car's owner, Tian Li, reportedly threatened Zhang when she refused to immediately unlock the door and let him get his car out. She later discovered that the lock had been glued shut, with surveillance footage indicating Tian was the culprit. A police investigation has been launched.

Thepaper.cn

Jiangsu

Nurse burns knees helping injured

A nurse in Huai'an badly burned both her legs on July 30 after kneeling on hot concrete for 20 minutes while tending to the injured after a road traffic accident. Dai Rongrong arrived on the scene at 11:40 am and began administering first aid as well as inserting IV lines and providing supplemental oxygen. She kept working until about noon, when firefighters were finally able to free the injured from their vehicles and send them to hospital. Dai suffered extensive burns to her legs from kneeling on the scalding-hot road, which had been cooking under an intense heat wave affecting the area at the time.

Yangtze Evening News

Guangxi

Dutiful son dresses as dead sister

A man in Guilin whose sister died of an illness more than 20 years ago has been dressing as a woman ever since, to comfort his mentally ill mother. The man, who is in his 50s, has grown his hair long and can often be seen dressed in a qipao (a traditional Chinese dress) while accompanying his mother on walks about town. According to reports, he says he doesn't mind being laughed at, as long as his mother is happy. The man's mother developed a mental disorder after the death of her daughter and is now often confused, frequently mistaking her son for his dead sister.

Thecover.cn