Crab lovers prepare yourselves for a delicious season. This year's first batch of hairy crabs from Yangcheng Lake, Jiangsu Province, hit the market last Wednesday, 10 days ahead of last year. The area has received orders from Hong Kong and Macau for as many as 200 tons of the crustacean, compared with 100 tons transported to the two regions last year. Shanghai will remain the largest consumer of Yangcheng Lake crabs. Only 30 percent of the lake's hairy crabs will be exported. Male crabs weighing 0.2 kilograms each will cost more this year. Last year the price was 210 yuan (US$25) per kilogram.
20,000 yuan prize
An honest official working for the industrial and commercial administrative authorities in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, will be rewarded at least 20,000 yuan (US$2,400) upon retirement, said the city's industrial and commercial bureau. Under a preliminary plan, a certain sum of money will be deducted from an official's income each month. If the official has a clean record at retirement, the money plus interest will be returned to him. The government will confiscate the money if the official's record doesn't meet standards. If 500 yuan is deducted every month, for example, such an official may receive at least 20,000 yuan after 30 years in office.
50 big brands
Shanghai will develop 50 famous brands in three to five years, most of which will be private brands, according to a conference organized by the city's economic commission. By the end of 2003, 60, or 15.7 percent of Shanghai's total big brand names were created by local private firms. In 2003, more than 60 local private companies reported annual sales of nearly 20 billion (US$2.4 billion), up more than 15 percent year-on-year. Profits last year grew more than 16 percent from a year earlier to reach 2.3 billion yuan. Shanghai now has 290,000 local private firms, accounting for more than 60 percent of local companies.
9.45 yuan per kilogram
Living costs in Chongqing are soaring. According to a report by the State Bureau of Statistics on 10 major cities, the average price of eggs in Chongqing hit 9.45 yuan (US$1.14) per kilogram, the highest on China's mainland. The city's average water price ranked as second most expensive, reaching 2.46 yuan per ton, compared to the 2.9 yuan per ton paid in Beijing and Tianjin. Residents in Chongqing also use the most expensive liquefied petroleum in the country at 5 yuan per kilogram, compared with 2.67 yuan per kilogram in Beijing - the cheapest in China.
260,000 yuan
Three people in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, were deceived of a total of 260,000 yuan (US$31,325) by fake Olympic gold medals. The medals were made of a yellow metal with the Olympic's five circle symbol and "2008." The swindlers lied that 16 gold medals in honor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics were found missing after a big fire at the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of 29th Olympiad. They said the government was paying 280,000 yuan for each medal.
Rentals at 100 percent
The older houses are in Shanghai's prime locations, the less likely they are to be available, according to a recent survey by the statistics bureau. The rental rate for downtown houses built in the 1970s and 1980s is nearly 100 percent. Houses inside the inner ring road are the most popular with renters. The rental rate is 5.2 percentage points higher than those outside the outer ring road.