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CHINA DAILY Friday, March 31, 2017 CHINA 7
City in Anhui appoints ‘toilet chiefs’ teamBy ZHU LIXIN in [email protected]
Chaohu in East China’sAnhui province has appointed39 “toilet chiefs” to ensurehigh standards at all publicrestrooms, with Hu Qisheng,the city’s Party chief, taskedwith overseeing their work.
“As the city has 280,000urban residents, we shouldhave at least 100 public toilets,
but we’re still far from thatgoal,” Hu said, adding that thecity has abundant tourismresources and is receiving anincreasing number of visitors.
“Clean and easily accessiblepublic toilets are a window toa modern and civilized city.Just increasing the number oftoilets is not enough — it’s alsoimportant to improve the sanitation standards at the oneswe already have.”
The toilet chiefs, who wereappointed in September, areall officials with the city’surban administration department, according to Zou Dayong, the city’s environmentalsanitation director.
Zou, who is the toilet chieffor Xiexiuyuan Park, said he isrequired to visit the toilet atleast three times a week. “Acleaner arranged by a localproperty management com
pany will always be present atthe toilet,” he said. “The toiletshould always have runningwater and free toilet paper,and be free of foul odors.”
The city government plans toinvest 18 million yuan ($2.61million) in building and renovating 91 public restrooms inurban areas. In addition, facilities in 21 city buildings havebeen opened to the public.
A shortage of public toilets is
an issue faced by China, whichhas vowed to develop its tourism sector. The country’ssocalled toilet revolution ispart of a 2trillionyuan investment plan announced late lastyear to develop tourism by2020. In response to complaints about the sanitary conditions of such facilities, about100,000 new public toilets willbebuiltacross thecountryduring that period.
Zhang Junli (second from right) appears on a program on Channel 3 of China Central Television in Beijing, in 2014.PHOTOS BY SUN RUISHENG / CHINA DAILY
Zhang makes an oil painting in bed at home near Taiyuan, Shanxiprovince.
Painting picturesthrough the painArtist who hasbeen bedriddenfor 30 yearsfinds solace inher work
By SUN RUISHENG inTaiyuan and LI YANG in Beijing
With her withered limbsand meager muscles, ZhangJunli looks more like a sicklyteenager than a 39yearold.
She has chronic infectiousarthritis, an uncommon condition that had paralyzed herby the time she was 9.
For the past three decadesshe has been bedridden, butdespite being barely able to lifta paintbrush, she has spentthat time perfecting her art.
Zhang has created thousands of pencil sketches andwatercolors, hundreds of oilpaintings and has even written two books: a fulllengthnovel called The Blazing Girland an autobiography titledMy Existence.
Born in a village near Taiyuan, North China’s Shanxi province, in 1978, she first showedsymptoms of the conditionthat would later take away hermobility at age 6.
Her parents, rural middleschool teachers, could barelyafford the medical bills andexhausted almost all their savings paying for their daughter’s treatment.
“Oneday,whenIwas9yearsold, I woke up and had piercing pain in all my joints,”Zhang said.
“I found I could not movemy body. The pain has accompanied me ever since. It evenkeeps me awake at nightsometimes.”
Due to her condition, regular schooling was not anoption. She did try to attendthe village primary school atfirst, but dropped out after sixmonths because she found thephysical act of attending classagonizing.
Treatments prescribed byvillage and county doctors didlittle to alleviate Zhang’ssymptoms, so she stayed athome, in bed, and taught herself painting, as her parentstaught her the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic.
“I know my parents wanteda boy when they had me, butthey always treasured me,even after I got sick,” she wrotein her autobiography.
“Despite that, for a longtime, I was very depressed.Sometimes, I felt I was on thebrink of collapse.”
Zhang’s love of art was whatkept her going and eventuallypropelled her toward herfuture career.
“I have loved painting sincechildhood, it makes me calmat heart and my pain evenseems lessened while painting,” she said.
Her big break came in 1996,when Zhou Xiaolu, her sister’sclassmate, first saw Zhang’spaintings.
Zhou’s father, an establishedscience fiction novelist, waslooking for an illustrator forhis latest story, which wouldbe serialized in a renownedChinese fiction periodical.
So Zhang, age 17, read thetext carefully and drew morethan 20 pictures for Zhou’sfather, who commended herwork, noting her “comprehensive ability to convey a writer’smost delicate thoughtsthrough the discourse of fineart”.
All of the artwork wasaccepted for publication bythe periodical’s editors andZhang received 600 yuan($87) as remuneration, almostthree months’ income for herfamily at that time.
With that revelation, theyoung artist decided shewould strive to make a livingfrom her art.
She was encouraged in herendeavors by a number of theperiodical’s readers, whobecame her pen pals.
One of them — a womanfrom Luzhou, Sichuan province, named Yu Yimei — stillkeeps in contact with Zhang tothis day.
It was Yu who, in 2014, persuaded Zhang to take up oilpainting, because “traditionalChinese ink sketches andwatercolor paintings alwaysmake the bedclothes dirty”.
By watching online videos,reading books and copyingthe works of Western masters, Zhang was able to teachherself how to paint with oils.In 2,000 hours, she has creat
ed more than 200 oil paintings.
Her younger brother suggested she sell some online.
“I thought it was a goodidea, as there was no place tostore them at home and moreimportant, I thought it couldbe a reliable source of incomefor my parents, who still haveto work to support me,” Zhangsaid.
Her ecommerce store“Lily’s Easel” opened in February on social networking appWeChat and she sold her firstpainting on the second day, for360 yuan.
The buyer was captivated bythe artwork and told Zhang hewould cherish it, a comment
that moved her to tears.In the first two months, she
sold dozens of paintings andalso started to receive customorders.
Not all the buyers knewabout her condition at first,but after finding out they havebeen universally encouraging,Zhang said.
Still, her physical conditionworsens day by day and she ismentally prepared for the end.
“I pray to God every day formore time. I am not greedy, Ijust want to have painted for10,000 hours. That is mydream,” she said.
Contact the writers [email protected]
Offeringdisabled peoplemeaningfulemployment
A pair of disabled entrepreneurs in Southwest China’s Guizhou province areoffering hope and employment to others who sharetheir predicament. Ma Zhiguo, 52, lost four fingers onhis right hand at age 19while operating a machinethat made coal briquettes.
He met 39yearold ShiKunjie, who lost his eyesightat age 11, at a conference fordisabled people in 2012. “Iused to make a living by selling vegetables and tofu at themarketafter I lostmyfingers.It was very hard,” Ma said.
Inspired by an advertisement he saw on television,Ma asked Shi, who wasemployed as a blind massagetherapist at the time, to be hispartner in setting up a commercial laundry and potwashing business.
“More and more Chinesecareaboutthesanitaryconditions in hotels and restaurants. They want cleanerbedsheets and tableware. Wedo a good job,” Ma said.
Supported by the local government, the pair were ableto secure a 4 million yuan($580,000) bank loan andraised a further 3 millionthemselves.
Construction of their twostory business began in 2015on a barren piece of land neara sewage treatment plant, farfrom the closest residentialarea.
The company providescleaning and disinfecting services for more than 300 restaurants and over 40 hotelsand hospitals in Guizhou’sYuping Dong autonomouscounty. It has earned about 3millionyuansinceoperationsbegan in February last year.
Among its42employees, 17are disabled.
“Washing dishes or bed
sheets does not take muchskill. People can be qualifiedto work after a few simpletraining sessions,” Shi said.
In the company’s mainbuilding, a banner carryingthe slogan “Your trust makesus work more diligently”hangs on the wall.
“Disabledpeople find itdifficult to secure jobs. Manyhave to stay at home,” saidWu Yongying, a dishwasherwith an injured leg who livesin the company dormitory.He eats at its canteen for freeand earns more than 2,000yuan a month.
Yang Xinwen, 48, who ispartially sighted, works forthe business during the dayand learns massage at night.“I don’t feel tired as long as Ihave chance to work diligently,” he said.
There are about 85 millionpeople living with disabilitiesin China and about 70 percent are in rural areas.
Poverty among the disabled is not a new problem,and China has poured enormous resources into addressing it in recent years.
According to the local government, companies in Guizhou can be exempted fromtaxesifmorethan25percentoftheiremployeesaredisabled.
Moreover, the local disability federation provided a100,000yuan subsidy to Maand Shi’s company last year.It also organizes annualtraining sessions to teachinformation technology skillsto their disabled employees.
The next step for Ma andShi will involve hostingrecruitment tours to expandtheir business and hire moredisabled employees. “Weshould not forget where weare from and where we aregoing,” Shi said.
XINHUA
LIAONING
Jealous husbandgives himself upA man in Shenyang askedpolice to place him in detention on March 23 for beatingup the boss of his wife’s formerclassmate. The husband, surnamed Zhang, had becomejealous of his wife, surnamedLi, after she spoke with theformer classmate, surnamedJia, at a high school reunionparty. Wang accused Li of stillhaving feelings for Jia, whichresulted in the two men having an argument. Later, Jia’sboss — a woman who wasdressed in man’s clothes —approached Zhang, who beather up, mistaking her for Jia.
SHENYANG EVENING NEWS
Former fugitive soldstolen babyA court in Dalian has upheldthe jail sentence of a farmer,surnamed Luo, who sold a14monthold baby to a couplefrom Fujian province for 3,000yuan ($435). Luo, who comesfrom Sichuan province, encouraged a fellow villager, surnamed Zeng, to steal the babyin April 2005. He was detainedin Shanxi province on July 7after 11 years on the run andwas subsequently sentenced to10 years and six months in jail,which was upheld by DalianIntermediate People’s Court.
DALIAN EVENING NEWS
CHONGQING
Man shootsneighbor’s cookerA man in Fuling district has
been put under detention forthree days after he shot aneighbor’s rice cooker with anair gun. The man, surnamedLi, bought the parts for thegun online and retrofitted itwith a powerful pressurizedair canister. He said he shot hisneighbor’s rice cooker after thegun went off accidentally. Liwas detained for illegally owning a weapon and the air gunwas seized.
CHONGQINGNEWS.NET
Kidnap claimsparks false alarmA 10yearold boy who wasafraid of being scolded by hisparents for staying out latecaused the police to be calledout after he claimed he hadbeen kidnapped. The boy’smother, surnamed Liu, immediately sought police helpwhen her son returned homeand said he and a classmatehad been abducted. The boysaid they were only able toescape by outwitting their kidnappers, but police soon sawthrough the lie.
CHONGQING MORNING POST
JIANGSU
Hero dog rescuesdrowning childA dog in Haimen has been hailed as a hero after it rescued ayoung boy from drowning in ariver at noon on March 22. The
boy, aged 4 or 5, had fallen inthe water from a cargo vesselthat was owned by his fatherwhile playing with one of itsfenders. The dog respondedimmediately, breaking free ofits leash and jumping into theriver to fetch the boy. It swammore than 10 meters back tothe vessel, pulling the childalong by his clothes. The fathersaid the dog had lived aboardhis boat for three years andwas very loyal.
MODERN EXPRESS
Police arrestsuspected con manA man from Anhui provincehas been detained in Nanjingon suspicion of defrauding 18people of more than 3 millionyuan ($435,000). The suspect,surnamed Zhang, is accused ofroping in his victims by claiming his father was a senior government official who couldpurchase premium cellphonesat cost price. One of the victims, a man surnamed Zhuwho works in the mobilephone business, said he hadgiven Zhang 280,000 yuan.
YANGTZE EVENING NEWS
HUNAN
Woman driverwrecks luxury carA woman who drove her car
off a 8meterhigh embankment in Changsha on March22 walked away from the accident unscathed. The incidenttook place on a housing estatein the city’s Yuhua district atabout 11 am. The luxury carbeing driven by the womanoverturned as it went downthe slope and hit an SUV thatwas parked at the bottom,though fortunately no one wasinjured.
REDNET.CN
SHAANXI
Homeowner findsunwelcome guestA man in Xi’an has beendetained on suspicion of burglarizing a house by hiding ina vacant upstairs room forthree days. The suspect, surnamed Wang, was discoveredby the house’s owner, surnamed Zhao, on March 21.Zhao, who lives on the thirdfloor of his fourstory home inthe city’s Chang’an district,had intended to rent out thefourth floor but had yet to finda tenant. Wang told officers hehad remained undiscovered
for so long on the empty floorby using only his mobilephone for light at night andfrequently visiting a localcyber cafe during the day.Police found two stolen mobilephones and a selection ofclothes, shoes and socks fromZhao’s home in Wang’s possession.
HUASHANG DAILY
SICHUAN
Suspect accused ofchicken theftsA man in Chengdu has beendetained after he allegedlystole more than 20 chickensfrom a research center at Sichuan Agricultural University.Police said the suspect wascaught breaking into the center’s feeding area one night. Hetold officers he had stolenchickens from the buildingpreviously and sold them atthe local market for 150 yuan($22) each. A researcher fromthe university said the chickens were actually worth about500 yuan per head and thattheir theft represented the lossof a host of invaluable researchdata.
CHENGDU COMMERCIAL DAILY
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