Society

This year Gome will cuts off 100 stores to improve its cash flow in 2009, He Yangqing said, its vice president.

As the biggest household appliance chain stores of China, it's the right time for Gome to optimize and regroup. Besides of shutting down 100 stores, Gome will regroup the rest 1200 stores and open new flagship stores to improve unit prodution. 

Economic depression brings difficulties to Gome, but certain measures have taken, and the worst time has passed over, He Yangqing said.

"zebra crossing is needed to secure a love." This is a popular saying  among the chinese internet community.

During this spring festival, a lovely zebra crossing shows up in Chengdu.

New couples always take photos here, Hejiang Ting, during festivals and holidays. It's very common that hundreds of new couples come to Hejiang Ting at the same time which increase the pressure of traffic.

In order to guide couples to obey the traffic rules, the local traffice police builds the love zebra crossing here.

In order to make a phone call, the local people in Qinyang, Henan Province, has to climb on the top of tree for better signal.

This man complains that cellphone signal in this area is too bad to make a call, the only way to fix this problem is to clime on a tall tree and make a phone call there.

In fact, this problem not only exists in his village but also in those villages nearby.

Revelers celebrating a birthday set off fireworks inside a bar in southern China, triggering a blaze that killed 15 people and injured 20, state media said.

The fire in Changle, a city in the southern province of Fujian, started just before midnight on Saturday, when 10 people lit the fireworks at their table, the Xinhua News Agency said. Fireworks are sold and set off everywhere during Lunar New Year festivities, which lasted all week and ended Saturday. Also known as Spring Festival, it is the country's biggest holiday.

The explosion "set the ceiling on fire and the entire place was soon engulfed in flames," Xinhua said, citing a city government spokesman.

The spokesman said it took 30 minutes to put out the fire and that 35 people were found in the bar. The 15 dead suffocated, he said. Three of the injured were in critical condition, while the other 17 were treated overnight at the Changle City Hospital, he said.

A city government official confirmed the incident when telephoned Sunday, but declined to give any other details.