MISHMASH

MISHMASH

HERITAGE HANDOUTS

Everybody is proud of their culture and heritage, none more so than the good people of Wuhan, who have decided that their spicy and famous dish, “hot dry noodles”is deserving of intangible heritage status and have applied accordingly. The noodles, known asreganmian(热干面), have been a mainstay of Wuhan food culture for at least 80 years, which by Chinese standards makes this particular dish a relative new kid on the block. Last year UNESCO added the Korean dish kimchi to its World Intangible Cultural Heritage list, leaving many Chinese wondering why more of their dishes weren't on the list. Accordingly, Wuhaners, who are putting their money where their mouth is, are trying to put this tasty noodle dish firmly on the map. - CARLOS OTTERY

DRUNK MEN AT WORK

A large truck full of nearly 3,000 boxes of Moutai crashed on a motorway, spilling its load. The strong alcohol fumes left many clean-up workers completely drunk with some passing out and falling asleep for up to 20 hours on the road. The accident occurred on the afternoon of February 12 in Chongqing, and the police organized porters to clear smashed glass and sent the injured driver for medical treatment. The fumes were sufficiently powerful that cleaners had to continually stop during the clean-up. The vehicle was carrying booze estimated to be worth up to 20 million RMB and was traveling from Guizhou to Henan. - C.O.

MONGREL MEDICINE

Mish Mash wouldn't be Mish Mash without our obligatory cutesy animal story, and this issue it is provided by a dog that “persuaded” its mistress from suicide. The 22-year-old woman was suffering from depression after failing to get into the university she wanted and was all set to jump from a roof. She decided against making the fateful leap when family members brought out her beloved pet dog. Police and firefighters had initially been called to her rescue, but this only served to aggravate the woman who became more emotional. In an attempt to calm her down, her mother and father brought the dog to the rescue. On seeing her canine pal, she became calm and she decided to climb down from the roof to play with her dog instead, according to theWestern China Metropolis Daily. - C.O.

DAD AND DAUGHTER TIE THE KNOT (FOR HUKOU)

Earlier this year a daughter successfully married her father in an attempt to get ahukouthat would enable her father to live in Chengdu, Sichuan Province and receive medical care within the city. Sadly for the newlyweds, authorities discovered the marriage. In China, like most other countries, it is forbidden to marry blood relatives within three generations. The “couple” were able to go through with the marriage as the local civil authorities do not usually require applicants to prove that they are not related. Indeed, in most cases, they are not. Once authorities found out about the marriage it was not simply a matter of divorcing her dad. Although the woman's marital status had in fact changed, the marriage was deemed unlawful—and thus a divorce not possible. In the end, Chenghua district court, powerless to grant a formal divorce, simply settled on an annulment of the marriage. - C.O.

MANHOLE MAYHEM

A man from Haikou City, Hainan was caught on security camera footage physically forcing his girlfriend into a three-meter-deep manhole, in an apparent attempt to avoid paying her the 100,000 RMB he owed her, on December 12, 2013. Initially the man is seen uncovering the manhole and replacing the lid with a large piece of cardboard. Later while shielding his girlfriend from the rain under an umbrella, he aggressively guides her over the manhole where she falls in. When the girl, surnamed Guo, fails to fall all the way to the bottom, her (presumably former) boyfriend forces her down further and covers the manhole with its original cover. Later the man returns to the scene and covers it with a slab of heavy concrete, just to make sure she can't escape. The woman was discovered, thankfully alive, some 60 hours later when passersby heard her screams for help from beneath the ground. - C.O.

FIREWORKS MASK GRAVE ROBBERS' PLOT

When everyone on the ground was celebrating this year's Lantern's Festival, Fei, a 41-year-old local man of Xinzhuang Village in Shaanxi Province, was trapped six feet under in an attempt to rob a Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) grave. Being the fearless pioneer that he was, Fei went into a hole, which he and three of his accomplices had already blasted with explosives (cunningly disguised by all the fireworks going off outside), and starting digging in the early morning not far from his village. When the tunnel collapsed, his buddies decided to abandon him and flee. The rescue came upon the request of his family, but it was already too late. His body was found along with a shovel, a lamp, and a small piece of what was suspected to be a metal antique. - LIU JUE (刘珏)