Beijing

Railway ticket discount to begin

A two-month ticket discount for 24 bullet trains that have a maximum speed of 300 kilometers per hour will begin in November, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Sunday. No trains on the Beijing-Shanghai route are eligible for the discount, and the price of all second-class tickets will remain unchanged. Discounted tickets for each train will be available only during certain times set by the Beijing Railway Bureau.

Asthma-hit singer cancels concert

US jazz singer Patti Austin canceled a concert slated for Friday in Beijing after suffering a severe asthma attack in combination with a respiratory infection upon her arrival, said a statement on the singer's website. It is reported to be the first such cancellation in Austin's career. In 2008, she received the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal album.

City to issue real-name transportation cards

Beijing residents will be able to report the loss of their transportation cards and get new ones issued after real-name cards are implemented in the future. The measure is part of a new technical standard for Beijing transportation cards on which the city is soliciting public opinion. The card will have wider applications in the future, including train tickets and online shopping.

Heilongjiang

Haze causes flurry of traffic accidents

A sudden haze on Sunday was the cause of many traffic accidents there, China News Service reported on Sunday. According to provincial traffic authorities, low visibility on a highway led to a series of chain collisions on Sunday morning. The haze was caused mainly by smoke from heating and the large day-night temperature difference, an expert at a local meteorological observatory said.

Guangdong

City's air qualityfalls in October

Guangzhou saw a drop in air quality in October, Southern Metropolis Daily reported on Sunday. According to an air quality ranking of Pearl River Delta cities published by Guangdong environmental protection authorities, the daily average density of PM2.5 in Guangzhou was 42 micrograms per cubic meter in October, up 9 micrograms from September.

Ningxia

Deputy mayor probed for corruption

Liu Zhonghu, former deputy mayor of Zhongwei city, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China for alleged corruption, Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday. Liu took bribes and embezzled public funds, according to sources with the Party disciplinary arm of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Hebei

Man draws mapsof city on his own

An elderly man with no mapping expertise made maps of 12 sections of Qinhuangdao in the past 20 years, using his bicycle to measure distances, Yanzhao Evening News reported. Feng Huaizhi, 72, from Qinhuangdao, started to draw maps of the city in 1993. He measured distances by counting the bicycle wheels' spins and noted the names and positions of all the communities and other institutions along each road.

Guangxi

Two missingin vessel fire

Two people are missing after a ship fire off the coast of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Saturday morning, maritime authorities said. The dredging vessel caught fire around 10 am in waters about 5 km from a pier of a power plant in Beihai, according to the Beihai maritime rescue center.

Shanghai

Woman gets five years for killing her baby

A woman who threw her newborn girl to her death from a 12-story building was sentenced to five years in prison by a court in Songjiang district, the Shanghai Labor Daily reported on Sunday. Neighbors found the baby's body on the ledge of a fourth-floor window on June 25. Zhou Yanchun, the mother, a 19-year-old migrant from Anhui province, confessed that the baby's father was her ex-boyfriend. She wanted to hide the truth from her current boyfriend, whom she planned to marry. Too scared to get an abortion, she gave birth to the baby on a toilet.

Xinjiang

Man rescued after getting stuck in cliff

A man was rescued after being stuck in a cliff slit in the Flaming Mountain in Turpan, China News Service reported on Sunday. Rescuers said that the man was stuck for two days and a night 30 meters above ground before being rescued. At 2 pm on Saturday, rescuers learned of the man's situation. He had only minor injuries.

Xinhua-China Daily

(China Daily USA 10/21/2013 page3)