Dog travels over 1,700km to Lhasa

A stary dog has been following a team of cyclists for 20 days over 1,700 kilometres from Sichuan province to Lhasa in Tibet, China. Nobody knows where the white dog came from or how long she has been wandering on the road, said Zhang Heng - a 22-year-old student from Wuhan in Hubei province. He was riding to Lhasa with his buddies when they met the lonely dog on May 4. "She looked tired and was lying on the road around Yajiang, Sichuan province," Zhang Heng told China Daily. "So we fed her, and then she followed us." They thought the dog was following for fun, but found she insisted on sticking around them day and night. "We felt she might want to come with us, so we decided to bring her along," said Zhang Heng, adding they call it Xiao Sa by combining xiao (little) with the last syllable of Lhasa. During their journey, the cycling team and Xiao Sa covered more than 1,700-kilometre and climbed over 10 mountains higher than 4,000-metre.

"Many people stopped cycling in some sections, then took the bus but the dog continued. "Sometimes she ran too fast and was far ahead of us, when she couldn't see anyone, she ran back to find us," said Zhang Heng. Zhang Heng said he would put Xiao Sa at the back of the bike while going downhill or when it was really tired. "The speed can reach 70km per hour, it's hard for the dog to catch up with us." Zhang Heng and his buddies have opened a Weibo account for Xiao Sa, updating the canine's journey to Lhasa, The micro blog "GoGo Xiao Sa" has attracted nearly 47,000 followers in two weeks. On Thursday, the team and Xiao Sa have finally arrived in Lhasa. Zhang Heng wrote on his Weibo that he planned to bring Xiao Sa back to Wuhan. Source: China Daily/ANN

Grandpa who 'travels' around the world dies

Grandpa Ling Ruiming, who had 'fulfilled' his last wish of 'travelling' around the world, died on Thursday. His granddaughter Ling Yifan announced the news on her Weibo. "Grandfather passed away peacefully at 10.44am. We have received well wishes and photographs from good-hearted people. Thank you all for showing him a warm world full of love. "I'm happy that I could help him fulfill his dream... thank you." Three weeks ago, Yifan posted on Weibo a plea to 'take' her 86-year-old grandfather, who was suffering from terminal cancer, to 'travel' around the world. "My grandpa is sick with only a few days left," she wrote. "All he wanted to do is to travel around the world. Could you please do him a favour by taking a photo with his portrait wherever you are?" Netizens from all over the world immediately responded to the post. A campaign "Grandpa, we're bringing you to see the world!" was established and within a short period of time, Ling had 'traveled' to more than 20,000 places including the South Pole. Source: DailyChilli

Man makes meat of 20 teens

Police in southwest China have detained a man suspected of murdering more than a dozen boys and young men, chopping up their bodies and selling the flesh to unsuspecting consumers. Zhang Yongming, 56, was detained two weeks ago in Nanmen village in Yunnan province and is being investigated over the murder of a 19-year-old man in late April, the Guangxi News website reported. Police searching Zhang's home found the young man's cellphone, bank card and other evidence, according to the website, which said more than a dozen other teenagers had gone missing from the village over the years. It said Zhang had previously served almost 20 years in jail for murder. Zhang was known in the village as the "cannibal monster," the site reported, quoting residents as saying they had seen green plastic bags hanging from his home, with what appeared to be white bones protruding from the top. Local police declined comment when contacted by AFP Friday, saying information would be made available "at an appropriate time", and other reports on the gruesome case appeared to have been removed from Chinese websites. But Hong Kong newspaper The Standard said Friday that police entering Zhang's home discovered human eyeballs preserved inside wine bottles and pieces of what appeared to be human flesh hanging in the house to dry. Police feared that Zhang had fed human flesh to his three dogs, while selling other parts on the market, calling it "ostrich meat", according to The Standard. Beijing has dispatched a team of experts to Yunnan to supervise the investigation into the missing teenagers and two local police chiefs have been dismissed from their positions, the official Xinhua news agency said. Families of the missing suspected that they had been kidnapped and forced to work in illegal brick kilns, Xinhua said, adding that the government had urged a swift resolution to the case. Source: DailyChilli

WWW 1 car plate no. fetches RM520,000

Vehicle registration number WWW 1 created a record by receiving a RM520,000 bid - the highest ever for a vehicle registration number, surpassing the previous record for MCA 1 which was sold at RM300,100. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said the WWW series also made another record with 13 successful bids worth than RM100,000 each with three of them above RM300,000. He said the most number of bidders was for WWW 333, by 84 persons. "Overall, all premium, attractive and popular numbers including running numbers which have sentimental value or meaning to the bidders, have been booked," he said in a statement Thursday. He said 18,243 applications with bidding value worth RM64,225,838.51 were received during the 15-day bidding period from April 30 and a sum of RM11.3 million in revenue was collected from the bidders, which was 10 times the amount collected from other series sold before this. Kong said a total of 4,908 numbers in the WWW series were booked while the balance of 5,091 will be running numbers when the WWW series registration opens. He said the full results of the WWW registration number series would be displayed through the RTD portal (www.jpj.gov.my) this Monday and the official letter on the bidding results would be issued from June 6 2012. Source: Bernama

Online babes provide delivery services, a listening ear

Tao Girls is a Taobao platform that has been running for a few years. Originally an April's Fool joke, the e-commerce company is considering running a model-as-courier service. Online angels on the main site Taobao already run more than 3,000 services ranging from friendly chats to technical assistance. For an additional fee, customers can choose a model to deliver their goods to their homes. According to online reports, over 40,000 young women have set up "modelling kiosks" on Tao Girls. Source: asiaone

China's first blind backpacker

Cao Shengkang is perhaps China's first blind backpacker to have traveled abroad alone. The 35-year-old has just completed his 19-day tour of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. "Although I can't see, I am able to visualise the beautiful sceneries based on the descriptions of others around me. "I'm also able to enjoy the food and drinks. I really had fun," said Cao, who lost his eyesight in a car accident when he was eight. Cao learned massage to make a living. He opened his own massage stores in 2007 but shut down the business last year and went to Sanya in Hainan province to learn how to sail.

He had hoped to sail around the world but had to give up the idea because of his disability, and after finding out how expensive and unrealistic it is for him. Cao decided to tour the few Southeast Asian countries first because of their proximity to China and the lower cost. He spent about 4,000 yuan (RM1,995) on his tour. But it wasn't all smooth. "The key is to be brave and just ask people," he said. Cao remembered the first time he had to buy food on his own. With no one to ask, he used his sense of smell to find a food stall. Language was another major barrier. He only speaks Mandarin and knew only a few English words, so he had to use body language until he had to unbuckle his pants to signal that he was looking for a toilet. He met some good Samaritans on the way. In Chiang Mai of Thailand, he got acquainted with a group of Chinese tourists, who brought him to a supermarket and treated him to dinner. When he left for Bangkok, they gave him the phone number of a Thai woman who speaks Mandarin, so that he could call if he needed translation. Cao also met another kind soul, a Thai backpacker, who sent him to a bus station, bought him a ticket and some food. "The man touched my eyes, gave me a hug and said 'God will protect you'. I was touched by his kindness," Cao recalled. In Cambodia, he met a Belgian man who spoke Chinese. The warmhearted man not only helped Cao with his daily needs but also accompanied him around the city. He also gave Cao some English notes, such as "help me to book a room" and "help me to go back to China", so that Cao could show these to others when necessary. "I want to express my gratitude to those who helped me throughout my journey," he said. - China Daily

Dad rapes sick daughter

A farmer dragged his sick daughter into an abandoned house and raped her instead of taking the 16-year-old to hospital. The incident in Sabah's northern Pitas district happened when the 38-year-old man was headed to the hospital with his daughter and 11-year-old son riding pillion on a motorcycle. On the way, the man stopped by an abandoned house, Kota Marudu OCPD Deputy Supt Isa Yusof said. The father left the boy on the motorcycle by the roadside and dragged the girl, who was having a high fever, into the house and raped her. He then threatened the girl not to reveal the matter to anyone, saying he would kill her and the rest of the family. Police have launched a manhunt for the farmer, who is believed to have escaped into the jungle near his village. Source: DailyChilli