Delegates at this year's two sessions will not be served fresh tea; they'll get a personalized bottle of water instead. In Shenzhen, a woman dies after fainting at a subway station.

No more tea at two sessions

During this year's two sessions (National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), catering staff at the conference venue will not be making tea for representatives attending the conferences. Instead, each representative will be provided with a bottle of mineral water with their names on it.

A catering staffer from Beijing International Hotel said that during the two sessions in previous years, many bottles of water were left unfinished after the morning meetings, and were all discarded. By putting nametags on bottles this year, representatives can keep their bottle with them all day, Beijing Times reported.

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35-year-old woman dies alone on subway

A 35-year-old woman fainted while walking out of a subway station exit in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. Surveillance video shows that Liang Ya passed out on the ground and was trying to reach out for help. Liang lay there for 50 minutes before an ambulance came, during which some pedestrians and subway staffers came over to check on her, but none of them conducted first aid. Liang died soon after she was sent to the hospital, Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

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No taxi apps during rush hour

Starting March 1, taxi drivers in Shanghai will not be allowed to use taxi-booking apps during the morning (7:30-9:30) and afternoon (16:30-19:30) rush hour.

Transportation authorities in Shanghai said that new taxi-booking apps, such as didi and kuaidi, have increased efficiency, but also created potential problems, especially safety concerns as drivers have to check their cell phones while driving. (www.xinmin.cn)

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Beijing's first car plate lottery in 2014 ends

Beijing ended its first round of passenger car plate lottery in Beijing on Wednesday. Passenger car lottery in Beijing changed from once a month in previous years to once every two months this year, which made car buyers more anxious. It's also the first time that new-energy cars are included in the lottery. The odds for this round was 111:1.

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Beingmate again involved in food safety

Hangzhou Beingmate Group was recently involved in food safety concerns again, with its noodles, where nitrite exceeding standards was detected, 21st Century Business Herald reported. Nitrite is a substance that can cause cancer. The company has just announced its fourth chairman. It was linked to safety concerns for its milk powder in 2013.

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Company staffers want leave for Korean show finale

A cosmetics company manager in Xiamen, Fujian province, received 52 notes Tuesday asking for leave, all of them saying they want to "catch the big ending of the Korean TV series My Love from the Star", Strait News reported.

The manager, surnamed Su, was extremely curious about the reason and did a company-wide survey, finding out that more than half of his staff are following this TV show. He then decided to give them leave on Friday for those who want to catch the TV series' big finale.

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Nice day for a South Pole wedding

A couple from Beijing, who has been together for 28 years, got married in the South Pole on Tuesday. It was the first Chinese wedding there.

Zhang Xinyu and his bride, Liang Hong, have known each other since primary school. The couple, along with four of their friends, started sailing from Shanghai on July 6, 2013. They sailed for 234 days and nights before reaching the Great Wall Station in the South Pole. Their wedding drew international attention, including greetings from the Polish president and the prime minister of Sweden, which was part of the surprise Zhang planned for Liang. The groom wrote to many foreign government officials, hoping they can send their best wishes for the wedding.

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Real estate tycoon parks illegally

Real estate tycoon Pan Shiyi was stopped by police for illegally parking on the Capital Airport Expressway, accordign to Beijing Times. Pan was parked in the emergency vehicle lane and when he was stopped by police, he said he was trying to take a photo of the smoggy weather. Pan showed police his certificate as a representative of the National People’s Congress, but the police insisted that he move his car.

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