Dozens of mainly foreign residents of Beijing dressed up as Santa Claus as part of a worldwide weekend costume parade were ejected from Tiananmen Square.
The group was taking part in Saturday’s SantaCon – a worldwide event that sees people don Santa’s familiar red suit and white-brimmed hat and make merry in cities around the world including the Chinese capital.
About four hours into the day-long event, dozens of revellers entered Tiananmen Square – the scene of mass pro-democracy protests in 1989 that ended in a bloody army crackdown. As they gathered for a photo, police intervened, the participants said.
“You are causing a social disturbance – leave the square now,” one partygoer quoted a police officer as saying to the group.
“If you want to visit Tiananmen, come in the appropriate way.” (AFP)
2,400-year-old soup
Chinese archaeologists believe they have discovered a 2,400-year-old pot of soup, near the ancient capital of Xian, state press said yesterday.
“It’s the first discovery of bone soup in Chinese archaeological history,” the Global Times quoted Liu Daiyun of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology as saying.
The soup and bones were discovered in a small, sealed bronze vessel in a tomb being excavated to make way for the extension of the airport in Xian, home to the country’s famed ancient terracotta warriors. The liquid and bones in the vessel had turned green due to the oxidation of the bronze.
Xian, a city that served as China’s ancient capital for over 1,100 years, is famed for the terracotta army at the burial site of Qin Shihuang, who presided over the unification of China in 221 BC and declared himself the first emperor. (AFP)
Indebted towards bull mastiff
A cancer survivor said he owed his life to his dog, who died from the disease.
John Douglas, 39, of Tunstall Bank, Sunderland, has undergone surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy after being diagnosed with mouth cancer which had spread to his neck.
He was convinced he was seriously ill, despite assurances from health professionals that he was suffering from a virus, after seeing his bull mastiff, Diesel, die from cancer in the neck last year. (PA)
Priceless flag
The only US flag not captured or lost during Custer’s Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn was sold at auction for $1.9 million.
The seller was the Detroit Institute of Arts, which bought the flag for just $54 in 1895.
Custer and more than 200 troopers were massacred by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors in the 1876 battle in south-eastern Montana. (PA)
Madonna to open Russian fitness club
US megastar Madonna will next year open a new fitness club in Moscow, the second one in her Hard Candy chain after a branch opened in Mexico, her associate in Russia said yesterday.
“Madonna will be in Moscow in March-April to open the club,” Mark Mastrov said, adding the fitness fanatic diva had chosen Moscow as “she loves Russia she likes how people dance”.
The new club will overlook the Kremlin, the seat of the Russian government.
The project is a joint venture with Russian fitness chain Planeta Fitness whose head Irina Razumova said the club would be close to Red Square and clients would be able to see the Kremlin towers while working out. (AFP)
Tortoise training
A zoo is claiming to be able to train a 30-stone tortoise with patience, strawberries and a red plastic ball on a stick. Three giant tortoises from the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles are being taught “positive reinforcement” by keepers at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, in Devon.
Keeper Sam Lomax, who is training the male tortoises, said: “We are doing what we call positive reinforcement or target training, which means training them by using treats when they come to a specific target in a specific place. It is going really well, with really fast responses from the tortoises and good interest.” (PA)
Showroom dummy
Police in Seattle caught a motorist using a lane reserved for cars with passengers with a dummy as his companion.
Officers stopped the car and found the driver had placed a stuffed doll from a children’s show in the front seat.
The driver said he was late for work and drove off with his daughter’s doll so he could use the special lane. (PA)