World's longest sea bridge opens in E. China

This photo, taken on Wednesday, April 30, 2008, shows the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the world's longest sea bridge. China inaugurated the Hangzhou Bay Bridge on Thursday as part of its effort to boost economic integration and development in the Yangtze River Delta. ...

Employees wear only aprons for less packaging use

An employee of British cosmetics manufacturer "Lush", wearing only an apron, poses for the media in a shop in Berlin, Aug. 13, 2008, to campaign for the use of less packaging of beauty products and toiletries.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Employees of British cosmetics manufacturer "Lush", wearing only aprons, talk to tourists in front of a shop in Berlin, Aug. 13, 2008, to campaign for the use of less packaging of beauty products and toiletries.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

An employee of British cosmetics manufacturer "Lush", wearing only an apron, poses for the media in a shop in Berlin, Aug. 13, 2008, to campaign for the use of less packaging of beauty products and toiletries. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

King penguin receives Norwegian knighthood

Nils Olav, an Edinburgh Zoo penguin and Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian King's Guard, an elite unit tasked with protecting the Norwegian royal family, inspects soldiers of his regiment as they visit him in Edinburgh, Scotland, Friday Aug. 15, 2008, where he was presented with a medal. The original Nils Olav first became an honorary member of the regiment in 1972, when a young lieutenant called Nils Egelien visited the penguins at the zoo, but died in the 1980s, and was replaced by the current Nils Olav. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Tourists photograph King penguin Nils Olav as he walks past soldiers from the Norwegian King's Guard after he received a Knighthood at Edinburgh Zoo August 15, 2008. Edinburgh Zoo penguin Olav has been an honorary member and mascot of the Norwegian King's Guard since the 1980s and was made Honorary Colonel-in-Chief in 2005.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Man once world's most obese celebrates birthday

Manuel Uribe jokes as he holds a fruit cake with his girlfriend Claudia Solis outside his house in the suburb of San Nicolas de los Garza in the northern city of Monterrey June 11, 2008. Uribe, once the world's most obese man, celebrated his 43rd birthday on Wednesday with a very short trip outside his house. "I'm happy that it is my birthday," he told reporters interviewing the man who weighed 717 pounds (324 kg) in May after losing 518 pounds (235 kg) since March 2006 on a diet of grapefruits, egg-white omelets, fish, chicken and vegetables. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Manuel Uribe drinks a beer with friends and relatives outside his house in the suburb of San Nicolas de los Garza in the northern city of Monterrey June 11, 2008. Uribe, once the world's most obese man, celebrated his 43rd birthday on Wednesday with a very short trip outside his house.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

"Most Beautiful Goat" competition

Saudis look at A Damascene goat, or Maaz Al Shami, named Qahr, which won the first prize for the "Most Beautiful Goat" title at the Mazayen al-Maaz competition in Riyadh June 13, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

Muhammad Hawas of Saudi Arabia poses with his Damascene goat, or Maaz Al Shami, named Qahr, which won the first prize for the "Most Beautiful Goat" title at the Mazayen al-Maaz competition in Riyadh June 13, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

A Saudi takes a picture of a Damascene goat, or Maaz Al Shami, which won the first prize for the "Most Beautiful Goat" title during the Mazayen al-Maaz competition in Riyadh June 13, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Oahr, a Damascene goat, or Maaz Al Shami, which won the first prize for the "Most Beautiful Goat" title is seen at the Mazayen al-Maaz competition in Riyadh June 13, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Saudis look at Damascene goats, or Maaz Al Shami, during the Mazayen al-Maaz competition to crown the "most beautiful goat" in Riyadh June 13, 2008. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

A Saudi takes a picture of a Damascene goat, or Maaz Al Shami, which won the first prize for the "Most Beautiful Goat" title during the Mazayen al-Maaz competition in Riyadh June 13, 2008. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

Berlin policemen protest by swimming in full uniform

Employees of the Berlin police swim in full uniform at a open water swimming pool in Berlin June 20, 2008, during a police union Gewerkschaft der Politizi (GdP) protest, themed "the water is up to our neck", to demand better salaries. (Source: CRIonline)

Employees of the Berlin police swim in full uniform at a open water swimming pool in Berlin June 20, 2008, during a police union Gewerkschaft der Politizi (GdP) protest, themed "the water is up to our neck", to demand better salaries.(Source: CRIonline)

Employees of the Berlin police swim in full uniform at a open water swimming pool in Berlin June 20, 2008, during a police union Gewerkschaft der Politizi (GdP) protest, themed "the water is up to our neck", to demand better salaries.(Source: CRIonline)

Employees of the Berlin police swim in full uniform at a open water swimming pool in Berlin June 20, 2008, during a police union Gewerkschaft der Politizi (GdP) protest, themed "the water is up to our neck", to demand better salaries.(Source: CRIonline)

Tornado funnel cloud captured

A huge tornado funnel cloud touches down in Orchard, Iowa, Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 9:04 p.m. The Globe Gazette and Mitchell County Press News reported that Lori Mehmen of Orchard, took the photo from outside her front door. Mehmen said the funnel cloud came near the ground and then went back up into the clouds. Besides tree and crop damage, no human injuries were reported.(Photo: eastday.com.cn)

Diners have their meals on toilet seats at a toilet-themed restaurant in Hangzhou in Zhejiang province June 29, 2008. The restaurant, which opened on June 1, features toilet seats as dining chairs and food served in miniature bathtubs and toilet bowls. Picture taken June 29, 2008. [Agencies]

Diners have their meals on toilet seats at a toilet-themed restaurant in Hangzhou in Zhejiang province June 29, 2008. The restaurant, which opened on June 1, features toilet seats as dining chairs and food served in miniature bathtubs and toilet bowls. Picture taken June 29, 2008. [Agencies]

A diner has his meal on toilet seats at a toilet-themed restaurant in Hangzhou in Zhejiang province June 29, 2008. The restaurant, which opened on June 1, features toilet seats as dining chairs and food served in miniature bathtubs and toilet bowls. Picture taken June 29, 2008. [Agencies]

A diner shows an ice cream dessert inside a miniature toilet bowl at a toilet-themed restaurant in Hangzhou in Zhejiang province June 29, 2008. The restaurant, which opened on June 1, features toilet seats as dining chairs and food served in miniature bathtubs and toilet bowls. [Agencies]

Dog surfing contest in California

A dog participates at the 3rd Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort surf dog competition at Imperial Beach, south of San Diego, California.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

A dog participates at the 3rd Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort surf dog competition at Imperial Beach, south of San Diego, California.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

Protest against use of fur in Buenos Aires

Animal protection activists have their body painted in red during a protest against the use of fur in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, June 25, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

Animal protection activists have their body painted in red during a protest against the use of fur in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, June 25, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

Man sells his laughter

BEIJING, Aug. 5 -- A real-life version of the nightclub claque depicted in German writer Heinrich Boll's short story "The Laugher" has been found in a Chinese street, trying to earn a living by laughing.
Zheng Yu, a 30-year-old man in southwestern China's Chongqing Municipality, began selling his laughter on Sunday in a local street, Chongqing Times reported.
The self-claimed "the world's number one laughter-selling professional" has 12 types of facial expressions on sale. For one yuan (14 U.S. cents), one can ask him to smile or grin, smirk, sneer, etc. Or you can pay 10 yuan to see him perform all 12 expressions.
The man even sports a hairstyle featuring a smiley face on the back of his head.
"We should laugh more. Laughing makes us healthy," Zheng told onlookers, who crowded around him. Few, however, actually paid to see him laugh.
(Source: CRIENGLISH. com)

Olympic-themed haircut popular among kids

A boy gets a haircut featuring an Olympic Fuwa mascot in Tianjin August 3, 2008. Wu Dasheng, a local Beijing barber, offers the boys in his neighborhood a free Olympic-themed haircut as part of his effort to cheer for the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. (Photo: China Daily/Agencies)

A pair of twins show their Olympic-themed haircuts in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, August 3, 2008.(Photo: China Daily/Agenices) A boy with a Beijing 2008 Olympic haircut drinks at a community centre in Beijing August 2, 2008. (Photo: China Daily) A boy with a Beijing 2008 Olympic haircut plays at a community centre in Beijing August 2, 2008. (Photo: China Daily)

A boy with a Beijing 2008 Olympic haircut plays at a community centre in Beijing August 2, 2008. (Photo: China Daily)

A boy with a Beijing 2008 Olympic haircut plays at a community centre in Beijing August 2, 2008. (Photo: China Daily)

A cameraman take footage as a boy with Beijing Olympic logo haircut poses in Beijing, China, July 28, 2008. Wu Dasheng, a local Beijing barber, offers the boys in his neighborhood a free Olympic-themed haircut as part of his effort to cheer for the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. (Xinhua Photo)

Wu Dasheng (1st R), a local Beijing barber, creats a Beijing Olympic logo on the top of a boy's head in Beijing, China, July 28, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

Enjoy "cool service" with Disney stars

Disney characters Goofy squirts water onto spectators on a hot day during a special summer attraction "Cool Service" at the Tokyo Disneyland at Urayasu city in Chiba prefecture, Japan, July 18, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

Disney characters Stitch performs in front of a fountain during a special summer attraction "Cool Service" at the Tokyo Disneyland at Urayasu city in Chiba prefecture, Japan, July 18, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

German nudists complain of Polish peepers

BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Patrons of a German nude beach on the Polish border say beachgoers on the other side of the border come to stare at the exposed skin.
Ines Muller, a German naturist, said Poles come fully clothed to the beach on their side of the border and stare at the nude swimmers and sunbathers, The Sun reported Monday.
"You feel like an ape in the zoo. The Poles come with their binoculars, stare and swear," Muller said.

Beach patrons said there used to be a fence separating the German and Polish beaches, but it was torn down as part of a 2007 agreement between the countries.
"It's a nudist beach. It's terrible that the Poles come over dressed and stare," said German Elke Bernholz.
Some Poles said the proximity of the two beaches annoys them as much as it does the Germans.
"It's horrible -- we would never bathe naked, we are Catholic," said one beach-going Pole from the town of Swinemunde.

Tortoise keen on "watching" news broadcast in SW China

"Every time she hears the anchorman's voice from the newscast, she would stop whatever she had been busy with and stretches her head from the shell immediately," her owner Liu Jie told the paper.

Liu bought the animal for 8 yuan (1.2 U.S. dollars) last year. She happened to discover the turtle's keen interest in watching the news when Liu's mother was watching TV with the tortoise beside her. She was then given the nickname "Dr. Turtle," according to the paper.
Dr. Turtle seems to care for the anchorwoman much less than the anchorman, and she shows little interest in soap operas or other programs," it said.

The paper said Liu bought another turtle as a playmate for Dr. Turtle in May and now the new member always watch news programs with her together.
Tu Jing, the reporter with the paper, told Xinhua she went to visit Dr. Turtle on Sunday. The turtles stop playing with each other and became quiet as the afternoon news started.
When Dr Turtle heard the voice of the anchorman, she slowly climbed up on to the shell of the other turtle to watch, Tu said.

A netizen called "fangjunbmw" said at zhidao.baidu.com, a popular online forum, his pet turtle also liked watching TV programs and they usually held his interest for about 10 minutes.
The paper also published a photo of the turtle clinging to the bathtub and facing the television. But a netizen on sohu.com suspected it was a set-up. "I don't believe turtles can climb so high and stand still without falling down," he wrote.

Officials in Chengdu Institute of Biology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Kunming Institute of Zoology, both told Xinhua in telephone interviews they had no research on such a phenomena and had no idea why turtles would like to watch TV.

"Turtles may have emotional feelings, just like human beings, or maybe she feels comfortable about the frequency of the anchorman's voice," said Chen Rongying, a Beijing college student.
Pet turtles also have other anecdotes. This March, Xinhua reported a turtle in the northeast Jilin Province with a fondness for smoking and a craving for tobacco. The animal could smoke a cigarette within four minutes.