Man jumps off bus to answer nature's call

You normally see it in movies: a toughie breaking through the window of a moving bus "an explosion in his wake.

But a Beijing man did it in real life, because he could not wait to urinate, reports Beijing News.

According to the bus conductor, a passenger wanted to get off to "wash his hands"when the bus just left Xiaoxitian stop; but the driver refused since he couldn't halt the bus between scheduled stops.

The desperate man had no choice but to jump through the window; he was asked to pay 100 yuan (US$12) to compensate for the broken window.

Publisher chooses civet cat as trademark

Civet cats are believed to be carriers of the SARS virus, but the name is sought by a leading publisher as a trademark for its publications.

"Guozili,"or civet cat in Chinese, has been chosen as a trademark by Benben Book Co Ltd in Beijing, which has filed a registration application with the Trademark Department of the State Industrial and commercial Administration for approval, Xinhua News Agency reports.

If the application is approved, the trademark will be used for 16 categories of publication materials such as books and cartoon series, said Zhang Yongbing, general manager of the company.

Prostitute hired as bride to collect hongbao

A man in Heishan County of Liaoning Province hired a prostitute to be his "bride"to collect hongbao or gift of money from relatives and friends, Liaoxi Commercial News reports.

Zhang, in his 30s, is unmarried, but has spent large amounts of money on gifts at others"weddings. To make up his "losses" he came up with an idea of employing a prostitute, paid her 600 yuan (US$72), and had a fake wedding ceremony last month.

He reportedly earned 4,000 yuan (US$482) excluding the expenses on the ceremony, but his trick was finally seen through.

Locksmiths peeved at phone-firm practice

Two locksmith companies in Beijing have filed a lawsuit against Beijing Telecom Company, claiming its local-number inquiry hotline is leading to unfair competition, reports the Beijing Times.

The hotline "114 "operated across the country, registers five telephone numbers at most for one category.

The two locksmiths contend that the five registered companies have an unfair trade advantage because they take the bulk of the business. The Beijing No 1 Intermediate Court has accepted the case.

Peddler threatens to jump into water

To avoid going for police questioning, an illegal street peddler in Beijing threatened to jump into a lake, reports Xinhuanet.com.

On Wednesday morning, a woman selling pirated books at a pedestrian overpass near Longtan Park was caught by the patrolling city inspectors.

When the inspectors were attempting to take her to a police station for further questioning, the woman refused to get on the police car and cried: "If you don't let me go, I'll jump into the lake."

After a half-hour stalemate, she was finally taken to a nearby police station.

Friendly visit turns out to be disaster

A casual visit to friend on Sunday night turned out to be a nightmare for a man in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

When 34-year-old Wang was entering his friend's home, a fierce dog barked ferociously and bit his trousers, Heilongjiang Morning Post reports.

As the frightened man was trying to flee the courtyard, he crashed into a car passing through the gate.

The unlucky man has fractures on his lumbar and thoracic vertebras and is under treatment.

(China Daily 01/16/2004 page4)