Society

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.

Some major Chinese cities, including Beijing, will continue to be threatened by low blood reserves due to increasing demands and declining donations, according to an official with the Ministry of Health.

The pressure on blood reserves emerged near the end of last year and is becoming "permanent" in a few regions, said Guo Yanhong, vice-director of the ministry's medical administration division.

Although the amount of blood donated at the national level has increased for years, Beijing and Zhejiang province both reported declines this year, Guo said.

Micheal Pure in a Chinese Blood Donation Vehicle 14th May. 2008.