Briefs
Friendly Buses
Three hundred gas buses began operation on Changan Avenue, the Second Ring Road and other main roads at the end of September.
Fueled by compressed natural gas, the emission level meets the requirements of the Euro II vehicle emission standard, according to the official People's Daily.
There are now 13,230 public buses, 655 routes, 73,768 kilometers' total length and 3.6 billion passenger traffic.
Beijing boasts double-decker, air-conditioned buses, 6-hundred buses to Beijing residential complexes and 9-hundred buses to faraway suburbs.
Director Scores Again
Zhang Yimou won the Golden Lion for Not One Less at the 56th Venice Film Festival on September 12.
It was his third honor at Venice. Zhang had previously won a Silver Lion for Raise the Red Lantern and Golden Lion for The Story of Qiu Ju in 1991 and 1992.
Not One Less was filmed in Chicheng, Hebei Province, and used an entirely amateur cast to tell a simple tale of a 15-year- old substitute teacher's efforts to keep a group of village children in school.
Trees Hurting
Hundreds of new ginkgo trees are in danger of withering away after Beijing's summer drought.
Nearly 300 ginkgos along the five main avenues, including Fucheng Road and Qianmen Avenue, are beginning to wilt -- for three reasons, according to the Beijing Garden Administrative Bureau.
Firstly, the water shortage created by the unprecedented summer heat; secondly, ongoing construction that has hindered the healthy growth of precious species. The roots of plants near some construction sites have been injured by careless digging.
Lastly, the accelerated growth of ginkgos has led to malnutrition. However, the ginkgos are believed to be making a quick recovery under treatment.
City Bids for 2008
The 76-member Beijing 2008 Olympic Bid Committee was officially established at the Great Hall of the People, according to the official China Daily.
Beijing Major Liu Qi, who heads the committee, called on all the Chinese people to participate in designing a slogan and creating the right overall image.
The slogan must be international in spirit, yet also signify Beijing and the unity of Chinese people. The 2008 Olympic Bid committee office is in the Xinqiao Hotel.
Other cities vying for the 2008 Games include Paris, Osaka, Cairo, Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, Seville, Toronto and Kuala Lumpur.
Palace Puts on Show
An antiques exposition will be held in the Palace Museum from October 6 to January 6, 2000, according to the Beijing Morning Post.
The exposition includes 400 precious antiques including the Tianjuansanlian Seal taken from Puyi, the last emperor, and Xizhou Shuiding, an ancient cooking vessel with two loop handles and three legs.
Fancy Flag
China's largest flag will be unfurled on Tiananmen Square during a grand parade on October 1, according to Business Weekly.
Beijing Red Flag Factory, the only government-chartered national flag-making enterprise in Beijing, produced the 25-by-17 meter monster.
The factory has received orders for nearly 6,000 flags for October 1 celebrations.
Tour Targets Image
Five double-decker buses began to cruise Changan Avenue marking the beginning of the official Beijing Land Tour, according to the official China Daily.
The tour will sell the new modern image of Beijing covering new constructions along Changan and Pingan avenues including the Fourth East Ring Road, the widened Dengshikou and Caishikou streets, Tiananmen Square, Oriental Plaza, Xidan Cultural Square and Wangfujing.
Doggy Style
Eight pet hospital employees and "some pet lovers" graduated from pet beautician training class, according to Quality Shopping Guide.
"In foreign countries, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it is as common for people to improve pets' looks as for them to go to the beauty shop themselves," according to Quality Shopping Guide.
The complete beauty procedure includes brushing, combing, eye and ear cleaning, claw clipping, bathing and drying. The service not only targets beauty, but also the pet's health, claims the class release.
Beijing Small Animals Association has invited advisers and beauty teachers from "several dog beauty associations from home and abroad." Students can learn beauty skills for nine breeds of dogs.
It remained unclear what other lucky animals were included in the picture.
Flowers Etc.
Changan Avenue now has 500,000 flowerpots along 6.6 kilometers of road from Fuxingmen to Jianguomen, according to Beijing Youth Daily.
Seven themed flower displays include a 7-by-12 meter flower sculpture of a "New Century Ship" outside the Cosco building. "The Oriental Giant" is another in the southwest of the city and a group of flowerbeds dubbed "March On Tomorrow" are situated in the northwest and Oriental Plaza.
The northwest corner of Xidan Cultural Square contains an 800-square-meter "Light of Hope". Time Square enjoys the "Century Flower Clock"
Drivers at northeast Dongdan crossroads can savor "The Brilliance of the Republic", but many may prefer "Tomorrow Will Be Better" in southeast Beijing.
Weird Wedding
Two thousand new couples will marry November 5 to 10, according to an official release. Apart from a curious mass wedding ceremony, the new couples will also attach heart-shaped lockets to a long iron chain at the Great Wall. Then the 2,000 "one heart lockets" will be dropped into the sea as a symbol of a solemn pledge of love. The release did not indicate if the lockets were rustproof or biodegradable.
New couples will also participate in a flag-raising ceremony, present flowers to the Monument of People's Heroes, go to Yuanmingyuan to pray for peace and participate in a wedding banquet at the Great Hall of Great People.
Channel Opens
The city will channel cleaner water from the Sajiadian stretch of the Yongding River into the Tongzi River, Beihai, Zhongnanhai and Shichahai, according to the urban river and lake ministry.
The new water is channeled from "upper reaches" and discharged in the "lower reaches", a discharge volume of 2 million square meters, according to the ministry.
Other efforts for National Day aimed at improving the appearance of rivers and lakes in the urban area include more than 400 employees removing floating debris and planting foliage along the banks of the city's 1 million square meters of rivers and lakes every day.
50 Butt
A visitor from out of town who dropped a cigarette butt on Wangfujing Dajie was immediately slapped with a 50-yuan fine, according to Beijing Youth Daily.
"The crowd of onlookers expressed their understanding and support for the new regulation," according to the article.
Penalties have been made 10 times more severe than before in the new Regulations on Public Spitting and Littering. Anyone who spits, urinates, litters, empties trash or dumps pollutants in public better watch out. Litter means fruit skins, corn cobs, cigarette butts, paper, candy wrappers, plastic bags or packaging.