Chinese Daily Photos, Videos & News of 2012!!!

People ride sledges on a frozen lake in Beijing on January 2, 2012. Skaters are a familiar sight on Beijing's lakes and rivers during the December to February period when temperatures usually fall well below freezing.

An ice fisherman waits for a catch on a frozen lake in Beijing on January 2, 2012. Many of Beijing's lakes and rivers remain frozen during the December to February period when temperatures usually fall well below freezing.

Chinese tourists, wearing 2012 glasses, pose as they gather to celebrate the beginning of the New Year in Puerta del Sol in Madrid on December 31, 2011.

Taiwan opposition presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen gives a thumbs up to supporters from an open-top jeep while campaigning in New Taipei City on January 2, 2012. Tsai is challenging incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou in the January 14 presidental election.

A supporter (L) rides a motorcycle decorated with dozens of election flags promoting Taiwan's opposition presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen as she campaigns in New Taipei City on January 2, 2012. Tsai is challenging incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou in the January 14 presidential election.

Rubbish left by the revelers after the New Year celebrations in Hong Kong's Times Square Sunday, Jan 1, 2012.

A group of young Chinese acrobats perform at a park as thousands gather for new year festivities in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian province on January 1, 2012. President Hu Jintao vowed that the country would strive for 'steady and relatively fast' economic growth this year, in his annual New Year address broadcast on state television. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

A dragon dance team performs during a street parade in Hong Kong on January 1, 2012 on the New Year's Day holiday. Some 2000 performers took part in the event including 88 dragons setting a new Guinness world record for the most dragons in a parade. AFP PHOTO / Dale de la Rey (Photo credit should read DALE de la REY/AFP/Getty Images)

TAIPEI, TAIWAN - DECEMBER 29: Actress Kwai Lun-Mei attends Casio promotional event at Le Meridien hotel on December 29, 2011 in Taipei, Taiwan. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)

TAIPEI, TAIWAN - DECEMBER 28: (MAINLAND CHINA OUT) Pace Wu attends a Barbie promotional event on December 28, 2011 in Taipei, Taiwan. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

Huang Hsi-lin (R), the chairman of an activist organization that asserts Chinese sovereignty over a group of uninhabited islets, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, stands on the deck of a boat before setting sail for the islets in Hong Kong on January 3, 2012.

A fishing boat piloted by an activist organization that asserts Chinese sovereignty over a group of uninhabited islets, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, sets sail for the islets in Hong Kong on January 3, 2012. A dozen of activists from Taiwan and Hong Kong left for the disputed islands in the East China Sea on January 3 shortly after four Japanese politicians landed on the isles earlier in the day. The move came as Japan and China commemorate the 40th anniversary of normalisation of diplomatic ties this year and attempt to improve their sour relationship.

A Chinese woman leaves a convenience store in Beijing on January 3, 2012.

Chinese children play beside a Christmas display at a shopping mall in Beijing on January 3, 2012.

Employees work at a garment factory in Wuhu, Anhui province January 2, 2012. China's big manufacturers narrowly avoided a contraction in December a survey showed on Sunday, but downward risks persist and suggest the world's second's second-largest economy will need fresh policy support to counter a slowdown in growth. Picture taken January 2, 2012.

Li Na of China hits a return against Annabel Medina Garrigues of Spain during their women's singles session 5 match on day four of the Hopman Cup Tennis Tournament in Perth on January 3, 2012.

A worker dismantles a steel frame after setting up a dragon-shaped lantern for a lantern festival to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year in Suining, Sichuan province January 2, 2012. The Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, begins on January 23 and marks the start of the year of dragon. Picture taken January 2, 2012.

Taiwan's President and Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou signs a horse-shaped jade figurine for a supporter during an election campaign street rally in Taoyuan county, nothern Taiwan December 30, 2011. Taiwan's upcoming presidential and legislative election will be held on January 14, 2012. Ma Ying-jeou's surname means "horse" in Chinese.

Tsai Ing-wen (L), presidential candidate for the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), gestures to supporters from a car as she campaigns in central Nantou county on December 3, 2012 ahead of the island's presidential election on January 14. Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou enjoys a narrow lead over his opponents in his bid for re-election, poll results showed on January 3, the last day surveys can be released ahead of the January 14 vote.

Penguins waddle on artificial snow at Taoranting Park in Beijing on Dec 31, 2011. Six penguins, including several emperor penguins and gentoo penguins, are being shown during an ice and snow carnival from Dec 31 to middle February in Taoranting Park. The penguins came from Dalian Polar Aquariums Park in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province. The Emperor Penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica.

Hu Says West Is Trying to Divide China by Using Ideology, Cultural Weapons - Bloomberg

The West is using cultural means to divide China (PRCH), which needs to be alert to this threat, President Hu Jintao said in a Communist Party magazine.

“International forces are trying to Westernize and divide us by using ideology and culture,” Hu wrote in an article in Qiushi. “We need to realize this and be alert to this danger.”

Many countries, especially Western powers, are attempting to expand their influence through cultural hegemony, and China must deepen and promote its own values of “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” Hu wrote in the article, which was published on the government’s website on Jan 1. China needs to strengthen its cultural values as it faces possible challenges from the West, he said.

Hu’s comments are part of a wider push by the party to reassert its influence over Chinese culture and society, including in television and the arts. China’s leaders are grappling with the best way to manage Twitter-like social-media sites such as Sina Corp (SINA).’s Weibo service that are hard for government censors to control.

The Communist Party’s Central Committee said it will supervise the world’s biggest online community more closely, promote “constructive” websites and punish the spread of “harmful information,” according to a communique from its Oct. 15-18 meeting released by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Members of the party’s Politburo visited web companies after a deadly train crash in July. Internet users criticized the government’s handling of the crash and spread commentary and photos of the accident at odds with the official line.
Competitive Edge

The Central Committee’s communique also focused on television, with the Communist Party vowing to “promote more fine literary and artistic works” in fields such as television, movies and photography.

That coincided with an announcement that new limits would be imposed on the number of “overly entertaining and vulgar” reality and talent shows aired on television. Starting this year, the nation’s 34 satellite channels must limit themselves to two such programs every week, according to an Oct. 25 statement on China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television’s website.

In a globalized world in which people are exposed to many ideologies and values, the country with the most cultural influence will gain a competitive advantage, Hu wrote

Asian American: Media Must Fight Hostile Western Influences Says Hu Goldsea

President Hu Jintao is ordering China’s cultural industries to spearhead the fight against cultural imperialism by “hostile” powers seeking to “westernize” China. This follows up on his calls for a cultural offensive to spread China’s “soft power” overseas.

“Hostile international powers are strengthening their efforts to Westernize and divide us,” writes Hu in an article published in the current issue of the Communist Party magazine Seeking the Truth. “We must be aware of the seriousness and complexity of the struggles and take powerful measures to prevent and deal with them.”

The main targets of this form of western imperialism are “ideological and cultural fields”, the article says.

“The overall strength of Chinese culture and its international influence is not commensurate with China’s international status,” says the article. “The international culture of the West is strong while we are weak.”

Hu argues for the need also to develop Chinese culture to meet the “growing spiritual and cultural demands of the people”.

Hu’s article appears to be an effort at justifying the central government’s recent measures to tighten controls over the media and the internet. This trend — which appears to have been prompted by fears of a Jasmine-style popular uprising spreading to China — reverses the past decade’s liberalizing trend in which state-owned media was allowed more leeway to appeal to popular tastes.

An explosion of popular TV shows and independent-minded journalists, as well as the mushrooming of microblogging sites, promoted criticisms of official ineptitude and corruption and undermined the central government’s authority.

In October a convocation of Communist leaders led to new laws forcing TV networks to devote most of their prime time slots to educational programming and internet sites to engage in self-censorship.

That was followed by an order banning repetitive commercials on TV dramas. The move is calculated to force a cut in the number of dramas by depriving them of advertising revenues while forcing networks to air more programs devoted to news and cultural content.

At the same time the central government has boosted funding to state-owned CCTV, Xinhua News Agency and China Radio International by 45 billion yuan ($7.2 billion) to allow expansion into overseas markets.
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Crowd fights Chinese police at mosque demolition - Yahoo! News

Crowd fights Chinese police at mosque demolition

By JOE McDONALD | AP – Monday, 2 January 2012

BEIJING (AP) — A crowd of Muslims fought with police who demolished a mosque in China's northwest, a police employee and a human rights group said Monday.

The violence erupted Friday in Hexi, a town in the Ningxia region, after the mosque was declared an "illegal religious place" and about 1,000 officers arrived to demolish it, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.

It said 50 people were injured and more than 100 detained after several hundred members of China's Muslim Hui minority tried to stop the demolition. It cited a villager as saying two people died, but said it could not confirm that.

An employee who answered the phone at the town police station confirmed that officers had fought with protesters and said about 80 people were detained but denied there were any deaths.

Police demolished the mosque after the clash, said the employee, who refused to give her name. She said she did not know how many people were involved or why police demolished the mosque.

The Communist government closely monitors religious activity and worries that mosques and other houses of worship might become centers for anti-government agitation.

The Hui are one of several Muslim minority groups in China. They include descendants of Muslim immigrants from Central Asia, members of China's majority Han ethnicity who converted to Islam and several other groups.

Link

ANYANG, CHINA - JANUARY 04: A labor installs red lanterns at a Culture and Arts Centre on Jaunary 4, 2012 in Anyang, Henan Province of China. The upcoming Chinese New Year falls on January 23, 2012.

GUANGZHOU, CHINA - JANUARY 04: Police women ride Segways as they patrol at Guangzhou South Railway Station on Jaunary 4, 2012 in Guangzhou, China. The upcoming Chinese New Year falls on January 23, 2012.

This photo taken on January 4, 2012 shows trucks transporting containers at the Qingdao port, in eastern China's Shandong province. China's Premier Wen Jiabao has warned of a difficult start to the year, the government said amid rising concerns over a potential sharp slowdown in the world's second largest economy.

NANJING, CHINA - JANUARY 03: People queue to enter Nanjing Railway Station to go home ahead of the Spring Festival on January 3, 2012 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China.

A demonstrator shouts out a protest statement outside the Japanese embassy in Beijing on January 4, 2012. Four Japanese citizens, including local politicians, landed on disputed islands in the East China Sea on January 3, drawing an official protest from Beijing. The group sailed to the uninhabited islets, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, on a fishing boat and stayed there for more than two hours, according to the Japan Coast Guard. Beijing said it had 'raised its solemn representations and protest' with Tokyo over the move, which came as Japan and China commemorate the 40th anniversary of normalisation of diplomatic ties this year.

Hostesses wait for customers at a restaurant in a train station ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing on January 4, 2012. The week-long holiday, also known as the Spring Festival, begins on January 23 and is the world's biggest annual migration of people as more than 200 million board trains and buses to celebrate with their families.

Workers turn off the taps before transporting clean water into the Legislative Council at the new government headquarters in Hong Kong on January 4, 2012. Massive disinfection work was carried out at Hong Kong's new government headquarters after the bacteria of the potentially fatal Legionnaires' disease was found and one minister was hospitalised. Hong Kong officials said the discovery of the bacteria which cause Legionnaires' disease at the new government complex was 'under control', while it was probing the source of the deadly bug.

Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, which this year falls on Jan. 23, is traditionally the time when millions of Chinese rush home for family reunions and celebrations. These photos show people getting to grip with luggage and logistics during peak travel time in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, on Jan. 3. [Xinhua photo]

These TV grabs taken on Jan. 3, 2012 shows the crashed coach & lorrie (truck) on a highway in Zhongfang County of central China's Hunan Province. Thirteen people died and 41 others were injured, including nine people who sustained serious injuries, when a heavy-duty truck collided with a coach in central China's Hunan Province Tuesday morning. [Xinhua]

The TV grab taken on Jan. 3, 2012 shows rescuers help an injured passenger in the crashed coach on a highway in Zhongfang County of central China's Hunan Province. Thirteen people died and 41 others were injured, including nine people who sustained serious injuries, when a heavy-duty truck collided with a coach in central China's Hunan Province Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the local government said. [Xinhua]

A spacesuit used by Chinese astronauts is seen on display at the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum in Shanghai on January 4, 2012.

A boy tries an exercise machine similar to one used by Chinese astronauts at the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum in Shanghai on January 4, 2012.

Tsai Ing-wen (R), the presidential candidate running for Taiwan's major opposition Democratic Progressive Party in the January 14 vote, prays at a Taoist temple duriung a campaign tour in Taipei on January 5, 2012. Tsai is challenging incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party.

Model Chinese spacerockets are seen on display at the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum in Shanghai on January 4, 2012. As China pushes to become a global space power, experts say its ambitions go well beyond a symbolic moon landing, to satellite observation and a global positioning system to rival that of the United States.

Li Na of China hits a return against Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia during their women's singles session 9 match on day six of the Hopman Cup Tennis Tournament in Perth on January 5, 2012. Li Na won the match 6-3, 6-2.

Street people sit around a fire to keep warm in downtown Hanoi as northern Vietnam faces a cold wave on January 5, 2012. Different from its southern part, the northern part of the country lives each year with several months of winter with temperatures sometimes under 0 degrees Celcius in northern mountainous areas close to the border with China.

An African student dangling from a metal bowl performs Qigong, a practice originated from China where coordinating breathing and movement is carried out for exercise and meditation, in Hong Kong on January 5, 2012. Twenty-seven orphan students from Malawi who were trained to speak fluent Mandarin at a Taiwan-funded Buddhist orphanage in Africa performed dance and kung-fu for a group of primary school students in Hong Kong as a part of a cultural exchange program.

JIAXING, CHINA - JANUARY 04: Firefighters work at an explosion site on January 4, 2012 in Jiaxing, China. A reaction kettle exploded at around 9:50 p.m. at the Xiangyang chemical plant on Wednesday, killing three workers and injuring four others.

A policeman guides passengers at the crowded Beijing West Railway Station January 5, 2012. China's railways are expected to see a record 235 million passengers making trips across the country during the 40-day spring travel rush that begins on January 8, Xinhua News Agency reported.

GUIDING, CHINA - JANUARY 04: Rescuers work at the site of a road traffic accident on January 4, 2012 in Guiding County, Guizhou Province of China. At least 18 were killed after a bus fell from a bridge at the Guiding section of Lanzhou-Haikou Freeway.

Visitors take pictures of buildings made from blocks of ice for the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012. The festival is scheduled to officially open on Thursday night, Jan. 5.

A man cycles as an airliner flies over head into Hongqiao International airport in Shanghai on January 5, 2012. Chinese airlines will not pay a charge on carbon emissions imposed by the European Union from January 1, a national aviation industry group said as the cap-and-trade scheme, which has angered the US and Chinese governments and airlines worldwide, came into force after the EU's highest court rejected a challenge brought by US carriers last month.

Divers perform a dragon dance during an event to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year at an aquarium in Beijing, January 5, 2012.

Figurines of Taiwan President and Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou are displayed at a stall in Tainan county, southern Taiwan, January 5, 2012. The upcoming presidential and legislative election will be held on January 14.

Chinese Vietnamese prepare for Year of the Dragon celebration in Chinatown in Ho Chi Minh city

In pictures: Chinatown welcomes early Tet - Lifestyle - TuoiTreNews

A post office staff member shows stamps to mark the Year of Dragon in Suzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 4, 2012. The stamp for the Year of Dragon, slated for sales throughout the country on Thursday, is the third set of its kind issued by China Post since 1949 and used a make-up that was close to China's first stamp in 1878 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) when emperors still reigned the country. [Xinhua/Zhu Guigen]

A saleswoman presents a gold decoration for the Chinese lunar year of dragon in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Jan. 4, 2012. The approach of the Chinese lunar New Year as well as the decline in gold price contributes to the selling season of gold jewelry market. [Xinhua/Wang Peng]

An air security instructor teaches stewardesses of China Eastern Airlines qin na, a Chinese martial art, in Shanghai in December. (Photo: Provided to China Daily)

BEIJING, Jan. 6 -- Flight attendants at China Eastern Airlines are being trained in qin na, a Chinese martial art, to assist aircraft police and security guards when emergencies occur.

The first group of 20 China Eastern stewardesses took their first training class on Dec 16, and the company intends to expand the training program to all its 2,600-plus flight attendants in Shanghai, said Zhang Yuhong, a senior official with China Eastern's fifth passenger cabin services department.

Tsai Ing-wen (L), the presidential candidate running for Taiwan's major opposition Democratic Progressive Party in the January 14 vote, speaks to reporters during a campaign tour in New Taipei City on January 6, 2012. Tsai is challenging incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party.

A man holds up a collection of a new Chinese postage stamp depicting a Chinese dragon that he just bought at a stamp fair in Shanghai on January 6, 2012. The new stamp has raised concerns that the post office has put a too hard an image on China as Beijing seeks to promote the nation's soft power with comments on Twitter-like microblogs saying that the colorful beast is 'ferocious' and 'scary' as Chinese get ready to celebrate the traditional lunar new year of the Dragon on January 23.

A man lifts his wife in front of a snow sculpture after a group wedding ceremony as part of the 28th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, Heilongjiang province January 6, 2012. The wedding was organised by the city government, and 18 couples from Nigeria, Russia and China participated in the ceremony, local media reported.

Two women show new Chinese postage stamps depicting dragons issued by the China Post to mark the Chinese New Year of the Dragon in Beijing on January 5, 2012.

A supporter of former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian displays placards reading ' A-bian is innocent, One China, One Taiwan ' as Chen arrived at the altar of his mother-in-law in southern Tainan on January 6, 2012. Taiwan's jailed ex-leader Chen Shui-bian addressed hundreds of supporters in a 20-minute speech at a ceremony for his late mother-in-law January 6, just a week before the island goes to the polls.

• Chinese man shoots woman to test homemade gun
• China adopts new regulation to protect West Lake
• Troublesome weather coming to an end
• Beijing to gauge air quality with PM2.5
• White papers light up bright future for China
• Former Taiwan leader given prison leave
• 1,480 cases of illegal land grab, demolition handled in 2011
• Name change a slice of dignity for migrant workers
• Worker's ticket tirade leads to free ride
• 235 mln to travel by train during Spring Festival
• Survey discovers women reluctant to date poor men
• Over 1.6m to take postgraduate entrance exam
• Human-trafficking gang leader nabbed 20 years later
• Ex-soldier stabbed to death by pickpockets
• Media encouraged to make China heard

A Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agent stands guard in front of four detained Chinese nationals at an upscale subdivision in Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa city, south of Manila January 6, 2012. The PDEA agents raided a suspected drugs manufacturing laboratory and seized chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine hydrochloride, more commonly known as "Shabu", in the Alabang subdivision, local media reported on Friday. The four detainees are suspected of working as chemists in the laboratory.

BEIJING, CHINA - JANUARY 07: A father says goodbye to his child at the West Railway Station on January 7, 2012 in Beijing, China. China's railways are bracing themselves as millions of migrant labourers are set to leave cities for their native villages to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Indonesian ethnic Chinese children pray at a temple in the China Town in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012. People of Chinese descent in the world's most populous Muslim country are gearing up to celebrate the Lunar New Year later this month.

BEIJING, CHINA - JANUARY 07: Cleaners prepare a train carriage as people board trains at the West Railway Station on January 7, 2012 in Beijing, China. China's railways are bracing themselves as millions of migrant laborers are set to leave cities for their native villages to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

"Capsule bed" manufacturer Eric Wong, right, and his son Osbert pose inside a modified capsule-like bedroom imported from Japan in his showroom in Hong Kong Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012. The structure, with each sleeping area has an air conditioner, a TV and an audio facility, mainly targets mainland China's travelers and Hong Kong-based university students, for rent around US$30 per night or US$450 per month.

Indonesian ethnic Chinese men stand near the head of a dragon outfit used in a performance that is a part of the Jakarta Biennale art festival at a temple in the China Town in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012. The year 2012 is celebrated as the year of the dragon on the Chinese lunar calendar.

BEIJING, CHINA - JANUARY 07: A man cycles past a picture of the Forbidden City on January 7, 2012 in Beijing, China. Beijing is experiencing it's first snowfall of the year.

Mainland Chinese tourists take photos in Hong Kong on January 6, 2012. Tourist arrivals reached a historic high in Hong Kong in 2011 with nearly 42 million visitors, boosted by increases mainly from mainland China and South Korea, tourism officials said.

Paramilitary policemen stand on a street in Beijing on January 7, 2012

Workers sweep snow from a road in Beijing on January 7, 2012.

Incumbent Taiwanese President and presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou delivers a speech during a campaign rally in New Taipei City, Taiwan, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012. Taiwan will hold its presidential election on Jan. 14, 2012.

Supporters of Taiwan's President and presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou listen to Ma as he gives a speech during an election rally in New Taipei City, Taiwan, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012.

Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen gestures to supporters during a massive rally in the party's stronghold Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 in the southern city of Tainan, Taiwan. Taiwan will hold its presidential election on Jan. 14, 2012.

Supporters of Taiwan's President and presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou react as Ma gives a speech during a election rally in New Taipei City, Taiwan, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012. Taiwan will hold its presidential election on Jan. 14, 2012.

Chen Shui-bian, the jailed former leader of Taiwan, crawls to the funeral house of his late mother-in-law in Tainan, Taiwan, on Friday. [Photo/Agencies]

Chen Shui-bian, a former leader of Taiwan who is currently serving a prison sentence for graft, attended the funeral of his mother-in-law on Friday after being granted special leave from prison for about eight hours.

Chen arrived on Friday morning at a funeral home in the city of Tainan to pay his respects to Wu Wang-hsia, who died on Dec 31 at the age of 85. Friday, the seventh day after her death, was the traditional family-mourning day.

Chen was not shackled or handcuffed, as was authorized by the island's legal department due to his former leadership position. But he was escorted by prison officers and local police.

At the funeral, Chen went down on his knees, performed traditional rites and gave a eulogy. Chen also saw his wife Wu Shu-chen, his mother, and his son and daughter at the mourning ceremony.

He was escorted back to the Taipei Prison after staying in Tainan for two hours.

Policemen search the scene of crime after a suspect allegedly shot and killed a man during a robbery in Nanjing, Jan 6, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

Police in Jiangsu province said the person they suspect shot and killed a man during a robbery on Friday is also believed to be responsible for a series of robberies and shootings.

The Public Security Bureau of Nanjing, in the provincial capital, has distributed a photo of the suspect publicly and is offering a reward of 100,000 yuan ($15,840) for information that could lead to his arrest, said Pei Jun, deputy chief of the bureau.

The picture taken on Jan. 6, 2012 shows the scene of a group wedding ceremony during the 28th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

18 couples from different countries and regions including China, Russia and Nigeria participated in the group wedding.

BEIJING, CHINA - JANUARY 08: A Chinese couple hug outside Beijing West Railway Station on January 8, 2012 in Beijing, China. China's annual Spring Festival travel rush begins on Sunday, and authorities estimate 3.158 billion passenger journeys will be made for the Chinese lunar new year during the 40-day travel period.

BEIJING, CHINA - JANUARY 08: Chinese paramilitary policemen guard at the entrance of the check-in kiosks for real-name tickets at Beijing West Railway Station on January 8, 2012 in Beijing, China.

A supporter of Taiwan President and ruling Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou dances during a campaign rally by Ma in Taipei on January 8, 2012. Ma Ying-jeou has overseen the most dramatic improvement in China ties in the island's history, but economic anxieties could dash his re-election hopes in the presidential vote on January 14.

Police officers use police dog to sniff a passenger's belonging for security purpose outside the Beijing railway station in Beijing, China, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012.

Jie Zheng of China poses with the trophy after winning her match against Flavia Pennetta of Italy in the singles final of the ASB Classic Tennis at the ASB Tennis centre in Auckland on January 8, 2011. Pennetta retired due to injury.

Chinese families ride sledges on the frozen Qianhai Lake of Beijing on January 8, 2012. Skaters are a familiar sight on Beijing's lakes and rivers during the December to February period when temperatures usually fall well below freezing.

Visitors take pictures in front of a dragon-shaped lantern which has been set up for the upcoming Lunar New Year in Beijing, January 7, 2012.

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OMG I'll do anything to volunteer as a "punching dummy" bag to help them with their self-defense skills! After that I would ask them out for a date.