Sales pitch Two fans of China Super League soccer club Beijing Guo'an take their pictures with a pot of turf they bought from the Workers' Stadium in Beijing, Guo'an's home ground, on Wednesday. A 20 cm-by-30 cm patch of turf sells for 40 yuan ($6.52). Inspired by European professional soccer clubs, the stadium launched its turf sale online last month to reward the fans for their support. Photo by Hei Ke / for China Daily

Sichuan

Volunteers target online behavior

An army of 1,000 volunteers will be organized to help ensure better online behavior in Chengdu, Sichuan province, Chengdu Daily reported on Wednesday. Of these volunteers, the city government will choose "about 100 people as core volunteers, and over 15 people as opinion-writers" to lead netizens away from using swear words and believing and spreading rumors on the Internet, an official at the Spiritual Civilization Office in Chengdu told the newspaper.

Tibet

Foot-and-mouth disease confirmed

An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has been confirmed in cattle in the Tibet autonomous region, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday. A pasture in Gamba county, Xigaze prefecture, reported on Saturday that 22 head of cattle had shown signs of the disease. National laboratory test results released on Thursday confirmed that the cattle are infected with type O foot-and-mouth disease.

Fujian

Children missing in minibus accident

Rescuers are searching for five children missing after a minibus plunged into a river in Fujian province. An official with the Pinghe county Party committee said on Thursday the seven-seater minibus, which was carrying 10 people, went into a 10-meter-deep river at around 3 pm on Wednesday near Jiufeng, a township in the city of Zhangzhou. Five people made it to safety, but five children, whose ages are unknown, are still unaccounted for.

Guangdong

Probe launched into food poisoning

The authorities in Dongguan, Guangdong province, have launched an investigation into the mass food poisoning of workers, sources with the food and drug administration said on Thursday. Food samples are being examined, and the administration has promised to make the findings public. The probe was launched after 160 members of staff from Hsu Fu Chi Food Co fell ill after eating snacks at the company's canteen on Tuesday. One worker died in her dormitory the next day.

Shandong

Blueberry festival gets under way

The Qingdao International Blueberry Festival and China International Blueberry Congress has opened in Qingdao, a coastal city in Shandong province. Blueberry experts from China, the United States, Chile and Australia are participating in the festival and have discussed the opportunities and challenges the Chinese blueberry industry faces. The Huangdao district of Qingdao, which boasts more than 4,400 hectares of blueberries, is China's largest blueberry cultivation base.

Shanghai

Airport offers interactive games

A 3-meter-tall, 3.5-meter-wide screen has been set up in Shanghai's Pudong International Airport as part of interactive games for bored travelers. The interactive wall offers games such as shooting a ball at goal and rewards travelers with small prizes if they are successful. It is next to Gate 24 in Terminal Two.

Beijing

Funds for provinces along Yangtze

The Ministry of Finance has allocated 100 million yuan ($16.13 million) in relief funds to provinces along the Yangtze River for possible riverbank collapse. The provinces include Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan. Around 100 armed police officers are repairing partial collapses on two sections of the Yangtze riverbank, which have endangered some 73,000 people.

Henan

Aliens are out there, abbot says

As the successful launch of China's fifth manned spacecraft marks another step in realizing the country's space dream, monks in the country regularly ponder how space is related to their own lives. "Buddhism believes there are aliens. They not only exist, but there are many," said Shi Yongxin, abbot of the Shaolin Temple in Henan province. Buddhists believe many different worlds exist and these do not exclude other celestial bodies, Shi said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency.

Xinhua - China Daily

(China Daily USA 06/14/2013 page2)