Society

A wealthy Chinese couple has become parents to eight children using in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and two surrogate mothers, Guangzhou Daily reported Monday.

First the mother gave birth to triplets in October after undergoing IVF treatment. A few days later two surrogate mothers hired by the couple gave birth to another set of triplets and twins also using IVF.

Now the family employs 11 nurses to care the four girls and four boys.

A man who advertized for a maidservant for a 17-year-old on his micro blog claims he has already interviewed 30 girls for the position, Changjiang Daily reported on Tuesday.

Huang Yufei, who says he is recruiting for a friend, stated on his Weibo that the successful applicant should wear a maid's uniform, live in the house, make tea, call him master, watch animation cartoons and be fluent in English.

While being demolished, a three-story building partly collapsed onto a road near this city's East Third Ring Road on Friday.

The accident caused no injuries but damaged four vehicles that were passing by.

The building stands near the new China Central Television (CCTV) building in Beijing's Central Business District.

It collapsed onto Chaoyang Road at about 11:10 am, Wang Yu, a Chaoyang District police officer, said on Friday afternoon.

"We received a phone call saying a building had collapsed in the Chaoyang district," Wang said. "We immediately dispatched more than 20 policemen to keep order there."

In a remote western corner of this metropolis is an old elevator factory that has not so much been renovated as reincarnated.

The compound, which had stood abandoned for years, will reopen this weekend as the new Wanfo Buddhist Temple, becoming the first development of its kind in China.

Instead of yellow walls and upturned eaves, two of the most distinguishing characteristics of traditional Chinese temples, Wanfo has whitewashed walls and simple dark green tiles.

However, the lotus pond, towering trees and array of bronze or stone statues give this building a necessary air of holiness and tranquility, setting it apart from the surrounding industrial park.

A monk makes a phone call on Monday outside the main hall of Wanfo Buddhist Temple, which is in a compound renovated from a disused elevator factory in Shanghai.