Red on Red

Farmer's paid-for 'bride' a man

A newly-wed "bride" was arrested after the farmer who paid to marry her found she was really a man.

The farmer, from rural eastern China, paid 20,000 yuan ($3355) for his arranged marriage only to have her run away from him six days after their wedding. He found she was a man when he tracked her to a neighbouring town in Fujian province, eastern China.

The bogus bride, who came from Yunnan, was arrested last Friday, the newspaper said.
Arranged marriages are common in parts of rural China where, because of the country's one-child policy, men often greatly outnumber women.

yea, but what was the sex like?

Gamer wins back virtual booty in court battle

A court in China has ordered an online computer games company to return virtual belongings to a player whose account was hacked and looted.
The Chaoyang District People's Court in Beijing ruled last Thursday that the company must return the player's virtual stash because it had allowed the theft to take place in the first place. Li Hongchen, 24, spent two years and more than 10,000 yuan ($1,210), amassing a cache of virtual money and weapons in the online game "Hongyue", or "Red Moon".

In February, however, Hongchen found his belongings had been pilfered by a hacker who gained access through the game's central servers. The software firm behind the game, Beijing Arctic Ice Technology Development, responded that his possessions had no real world value and represented only "piles of data". Hongchen took the company to court requesting 10,000 yuan in compensation.

"I exchanged the equipment with my labour, time, wisdom and money, and of course they are my belongings," Hongchen told the Chinese news site Xinhuanet.

More Short Stuff!

A German man who survived five days in the Alps in freezing temperatures by eating snow has been fired because he missed work. The company said: "We hired him as a consultant for a one-year project and he is already behind deadline."

An underwear company has made a bra that it says will help women quit smoking due to perfumed capsules that ease withdrawal symptoms. The capsules contain lavender, which has sedative properties, and jasmine, which alters the taste of cigarettes.

A supermarket in southern China has required its workers to each kill at least five flies every day, forbidding them to go home until the quota is met, a news report said today. The rule has been introduced to improve hygiene at the supermarket in Guangzhou's Baiyun district, according to the South China Morning Post.

Bush Disappointed To Learn Chinese Foreign Minister Doesn't Know Karate

WASHINGTON, DC�While he still plans to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, President Bush was disappointed to learn that the dignitary does not know karate, White House adviser Karl Rove told reporters Tuesday. "I told George that karate is an ancient martial art of Japan, not China," Rove said. "I told him that in China, many practice kung fu�but I recommended that he stick to the more vital issue of relations with Taiwan and North Korea." In spite of Rove's suggestion, Bush plans to ask Zhaoxing to "do some of that Jackie Chan action."