Pulse

Around Beijing

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-16 08:06

Crime

Drunken singer loses license

Musician Gao Xiaosong, who was caught drunken driving, will have his license revoked on Monday.

The administrative punishment effectively means the 42-year-old will be banned from the roads until 2016.

Gao caused injures to three people on May 9 when his crashed his white SUV at a junction in Dongzhimen Waidajie, resulting in a four-car pileup.

His is now in custody at a Dongcheng district detention house and will go in front of the district judges on Tuesday. He faces a fine and prison sentence of between one and six months.

Employment

Fair playing field for disabled groups

A total of 264 jobseekers signed employment contracts during the year's first vocational job fair for the disabled on Saturday.

About 40 companies, including IBM and Pansonic, offered more than 300 vacancies, including in the areas of graphic design, marketing and database engineering. The average salary was 2,000 yuan a month, Beijing Times reported.

Booths at the fair also offered free assessments on skills, psychological suitability and knowledge structure, while sign language interpreters were on hand throughout.

Community

Writing on wall for poor translations

Beijing authorities will this year introduce a comprehensive system to ensure the best English translations in public areas.

Officials will publish an application guide for signs and the names of governmental organizations, as well as posts and titles. A list of English translations for Chinese cuisines will also be drawn up, Qianlong news website reported.

Emergency service hotlines - 110 and 120 for police or medical help, 119 for fire and rescue, 122 for traffic accidents and 12345 for the general enquiries - will also be expanded to become multilingual.

Museums open free for celebration

More than 60 museums will be open free to visitors on Wednesday to celebrate the 35th International Museum Day.

To mark the occasion, the capital's cultural heritage bureau and other institutions have arranged a series of activities, including lectures on Beijing museums, a photography contest and other competitions. Former residences of cultural celebrities such as Lu Xun and Guo Moruo will jointly present an exhibition entitled Red Memory. Authorities will also publish the nation's first museum service standard on Wednesday.

Culture

Record price for collectable coin

A 10-kilogram gold coin fetched a record 7.7 million yuan at a sale held by the China Guardian Auction Company on Saturday.

The collectors' item, which was released by the People's Bank of China in 2000 to mark the new millennium, is the biggest and heaviest gold coin produced in the country. The final price was achieved after 22 rounds of fierce bidding.

A 2.5-kg silver ingot used for currency during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) also sold for 3.1 million yuan.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/16/2011 )