Beijing

Role model mourned

A representative of China's first generation of model workers was mourned on Thursday at a ceremony that was attended by President Xi Jinping. Ni Zhifu, a former member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and former president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, died at the age of 79 in Beijing on April 24. Other leaders including Premier Li Keqiang and former president Hu Jintao joined Xi at the farewell ceremony.

Holiday visitors increase 5.1%

The Chinese capital received 4.97 million tourists during the May Day holiday from April 29 to May 1, a year-on-year increase of 5.1 percent, according to the local tourism authority. Tourism revenue during the period reached nearly 2 billion yuan ($325 million), a 10.6 percent rise from a year ago. Among those tourists, 1.1 million were from outside Beijing and they spent 1.23 billion yuan.

More car owners use highways

More than 5.9 million trips were made on highways in Beijing, 30.2 percent more than in the corresponding period last year, during the three-day May Day holiday, which ended on Wednesday, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport said. Car owners were keen to take advantage of the toll-free period.

Man dead in downtown park

A man was found dead in Dongdan Park in downtown Beijing on Thursday. A female witness said the man's body was found by an old man who walked around a rock garden in the park that morning, the Beijing-based Mirror Evening News reported. The witness said the man was in his 30s. Blood was found at two spots of the park, the report said. The investigation was ongoing.

Jiangxi

At least one dies in storm

Heavy rain has been sweeping Jiangxi province for four days, flooding crops, toppling houses and killing at least one person, local authorities reported on Thursday. More than 190,000 people have been affected by the torrential rain, according to Jiangxi's civil affairs department. The rain has also damaged about 2,000 buildings and drenched 10,500 hectares of farmland.

Guangxi

Man killed himself after murdering 2

A man committed suicide after killing two children and injuring three other people on Wednesday night in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, local police said. The man attacked several people with a knife in the village of Ganluotun in Liujiang. He then committed suicide in the house of one of the victims.

Hunan

Tourists rescued from river

Twenty-four tourists have been rescued after they fell into a river from a tilted suspension bridge in the ancient town of Fenghuang, Hunan province, on Wednesday night. They were sent to hospitals and only two who suffered minor injuries remained in a hospital. About 40 people who returned from a bonfire party were on the bridge when the floor tilted.

27th victim dies of H7N9 flu

A 55-year-old man died on Wednesday morning in Hunan province from H7N9 avian flu, local health authorities said. The patient, surnamed Jiao, a native of neighboring Jiangxi province, tested positive for the flu and was transferred to the Changsha Center for Disease Control and Prevention on April 26. He was the 27th person to die from the flu in China.

Qinghai

Bus accident claims five

Five people died and another 42 were injured in a bus accident that occurred Thursday morning in the Golog Tibet autonomous prefecture in Qinghai province, local police said. The accident occurred at 6:40 am, when a bus traveling from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, overturned in Madoi county in Golog. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

Chongqing

Sex case handed to prosecutors

A woman involved in a high-profile sex scandal has been transferred to prosecutors in Chongqing. Zhao Hongxia, whose age and birthplace remain unknown, is suspected of blackmailing Lei Zhengfu, former Party chief of the city's Beibei district, who allegedly paid 3 million yuan ($487,000) after an affair with Zhao, the People's Daily reported on Thursday.

Yunnan

15 kg of drugs seized by police

The Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture's border detachment cracked a major drug case and seized 15.012 kg of drugs on April 29. Border guards at Yunnan province's Xinghai inspection station cracked the case, in which tea was used to disguise drugs. This inspection station belongs to the Xishuangbanna border detachment. The investigation is continuing.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 05/03/2013 page2)