China :: Shanghai

A middle school math teacher has stirred controversy after forcing 20 of his students to slap their own faces for three minutes because they made noise in class and scored poorly on exams. Angry local residents are demanding that the teacher resign and asking the school to announce a punishment. But some of the teacher's students, including some who were forced to slap themselves, are calling for leniency. The incident occurred in a class at Donglu Middle School in Pudong on Tuesday when the math teacher surnamed Yang ordered 20 students in his class to slap their faces after he was irritated by them making noise in class. The students said Yang was known as a very strict teacher, so almost all the students obeyed his order and started slapping themselves in the face for about three minutes. Those who slapped too lightly were told by the teacher to slap harder, students told the Oriental Morning Post. Yang's behavior has sparked anger among local residents, especially so...

Local taxi driver Qin Bo speaks to media about how a woman delivered a baby in his cab yesterday. Yesterday morning, Qin was taking a pregnant woman and her husband to Changhai Hospital. En route to the hospital, the woman couldn't wait and gave birth to the baby in the vehicle. Qin rushed the couple to the hospital and left the hospital without charging the taxi fare. The mom and the baby were finally safe and sound after treatment.

A Chinese sportswear company was ordered to pay 480,000 yuan (US$76,200) in damages to the US-based footwear manufacturer New Balance for unfair competition. The Huangpu District People's Court also ordered Niubanlun Sportswear Company in Quanzhou, Fujian Province to stop producing sports shoes with a logo similar to New Balance's "N" design. New Balance filed the lawsuit last November against Niubanlun for using a logo similar to its unique "N" design and had a Chinese brand name that sounds similar to "New Balance." The US firm said it registered its trademark in China in 1983 and accused Niubanlun of making and selling counterfeit shoes since 2007. Niubanlun argued that this was not an infringement case because its "N" trademark was legally registered. But New Balance said Niubanlun's trademark should not be used on sports shoes. The court ruled the Chinese company to pay for unfair competition, saying New Balance is a famous ...

A six-year-old boy was killed yesterday in a fire that broke out in an apartment in Shanghai's Baoshan District, xinmin.com reported. Police said the fire began at about 11am yesterday in an apartment building on Xinchuansha Road. Flames leaped through windows and plumes of black smoke rose into the sky. Firefighters carried a boy out of the fire but medical workers confirmed he was already dead. The boy's parents are from Chongqing Municipality and they went out in the morning, leaving their son alone at home, police said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The "biggest illegal building" on Xingjiaqiao Road N. in Hongkou District is demolished yesterday. Originally a two-story house, the building was illegally extended to become a seven-story "high-rise" (upper right) about two years ago. The demolition took five days to minimize the impact on neighbors.

A Jiao Tong University student said he nearly drowned after being thrown into an icy creek from a bridge near the school's Minhang campus during a robbery this morning but police suspect the student was telling a lie to avoid an exam. "My roommate was almost killed after he was robbed around 6am this morning," a student wrote on his microblog. The victim allegedly said he was blanketed by someone and pushed over the bridge as he was walking toward his dorm this morning. He told his roommates that he struggled for nearly 30 minutes before he was able to get out the freezing waters. He was later accompanied by a roommate to report the robbery to the police. However, police told the Shanghai Daily that they decided to drop further investigation because they suspected the student was lying. Police said the student might have reported the incident in order to avoid taking an exam today but they did not explain why they had come to that conclusion.

SCROOGE-LIKE cinema and restaurant bosses made Christmas Eve treats too expensive for many Shanghai residents. Cinemagoers planning to see the season's most popular movies - Zhang Yimou's "The Flowers of War" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate," directed by Hark Tsui - were asked to pay as much as 150 yuan (US$24) at some big cinemas. Usually, a ticket to a standard movie costs between 60 and 80 yuan, while admission to a 3D production is around 80 to 100 yuan. Among those dissuaded by the festive price hike was 22-year-old Typh Pei. "Me and my girlfriend reached the cinema, saw the prices, hesitated for a while and thought better of it," said 22-year-old Pei. Wu Hehu, vice manager of Shanghai United Cinema Circuit, said movie ticket prices went up before the Christmas period. "The Flowers of War" is more than two hours long and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" is a 3D movie, so ticket prices are higher than for other movies. ...