¡¡Doctor Fengjing from Occupational Disease Department of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, who conducted checkups for all of 14 children, said, ¡°Blood tests in the final rports showed six cases with a high-level of lead content in their blood, with the remaining cases at mid to low level. So many lead poisoning cases in children, especially in infants, is quite rare. It must be because of severe, nearby environmental pollution.¡±Feng said lead is a neurotoxic metallic element that can be absorbed by the body, primarily through the lungs and stomach. Lead poisoning occurs only when too much lead accumulates in the body. ¡°Generally, lead poisoning occurs slowly, resulting from gradual accumulation of lead in the bone and tissue after repeated exposure However, it is important to note that young children absorb fifty percent of lead ingested while adults absorb only ten percent,? Feng said.

¡¡Many people believe there will be more newborn babies this year than in others, because many Chinese believe giving birth to their first-born during the Year of the Pig will ensure a great future for their family. Those joys and hopes are expected to be the scourge of gynecology and OB departments throughout the year.

¡¡¡¡The Sino-Japanese Hospital¡¯s public relations office told Beijing Today there used to be 25 maternity beds. At he start of the year, the OB department added another ten beds, installing them outside of the maternity ward to meet demand.

¡¡¡¡¡°Generally speaking, the number of women giving birth now is far greater than at the same tme in previous years, the PR office said, ¡°We¡¯ve had to close down outpatient services since we cannot care for more new patients now, but there are still 300-500 people coming for appointments every day.The office also noted that childbirth appointments were almost fully booked this year, a negative result of the myth of the ¡°golden pig baby. Generally speaking, the hospital sees 30 births per day now.

¡¡¡¡Standing tall on a wide stretch of land, the chimneys and cooling stacks took a break from belching out smoke and steam in the southeast of Beijing. Coal processing halted, ovens silenced and the factory went mute. You could hear your own breath in the vacant factory.



¡¡¡¡The Beijing Olympic Media Center invited dozens of local and foreign reporters to visit the Beijing Coking and Chemical Works, Tuesday afternoon. The factory has halted production to improve Beijing¡¯s atmosphere in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games.After a 20-minute-journey from Jianguomen we arrived at the factory on the west side of Dong Wuhuan Lu.

¡¡¡¡¡°On July 15 last year we began the process of halting production, and finished the project on July 23 last year,¡± Zhang Xiwen, director of Beijing Coking ad Chemical Works, said during his brief introduction to the production halt, relocation and structural transition.

¡¡¡¡Beijing Coking and Chemical Works was founded in 1958 as a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the People¡¯sRepublic of China, and has served big clients such as the Great Hall of the People, foreign embassies, big hotels and the Zhongnanhai, where the Chinese central government and Chairman Mao Zedong were seated, Zhou Si, general manager of Beijing Fuel Gas Group Co Ltd, said.

¡¡¡¡The Beijing municipal government will make more efforts to reduce energy consumption and phase out energy intensive industries that are highly polluting, including chemical plants and cement factories.

¡¡¡¡Chinese in Russia may lose major earnings, and even their jobs, if a new regulation that prevents foreigners from operating retail businesses in Russia is passed.



¡¡¡¡The regulation targets all foreigners, but hits Chinese hardest. Though many worry about the new regulation, they still cling to hope that the flexible Russian government will relax its proposal before the upcoming deadline.

¡¡¡¡Chinese retailers in Russia have, for many years, been a key export channel for mainland markets. Around a million Chinese people work in Russia, where Chinese-made products have become increasingly popular.

¡¡¡¡However, under a Russian law that took effect on January 15, foreigners were limited to making up no more than 40 percent of the vendors in any given market. A new law that will take effect April 1 would completely ban them from all retail business.

¡¡¡¡The new law, aimed at encouraging Russians to take up jobs in the sector and rid the market of crime rings, would affect some 100,000 Chinese immigrants who work in Russia¡¯s marketsand roadside shops.

¡¡¡¡According to Russia¡¯s Federal Migration Service, one quarter of all foreign nationals in the country are employed at markets. Almost all these traders, together with seasonal workers in other low-pad sectors like construction, are from the former Soviet Union, China and Vietnam.

¡¡¡¡¡°The new regulation is for all foreigners, but the group hit hardest is the Chinese, since many Chinese do retail business in Russia,¡Yu Anlin, chairman of the Zhejiang businessmen¡s association in Russia, said.

¡¡¡¡¡°I have to congratulate you on having only 10,000 - 20,000 days to live,¡± LWei, 58, president of Songtang Hospice, said as the prologue of his university lectures.



¡¡¡¡Li established China¡¯s first hospice in 1987.Over the last 20 years, he¡¯s said farewell to more than 18,000 patients. ¡°We are fferent, because almost all the patients here are close to death,¡± he said.As an educated youth who was sent from Beijing to Inner Mongolia during Cultural Revolution, Li was helped by a local elementary teacher Zhang, a university professor who was labeled a rightist and sent down to a rural elementary school.

¡¡¡¡When Zhang lay dying in 1970, he felt sad because he never did anything to merit the accusations made against him.

¡¡¡¡To try and give the man some final peace, Li lied to him and told him the Party finally decided to restore his reputation.

¡¡¡¡The experience made him reflect on death.

¡¡¡¡¡°Life is a line, not a circle ¨when you reach the end, there¡¯s nowhere elseto go. The least we can do is to try to make people¡¯s final days a little happier,¡± he saidEarly attempts

¡¡¡¡Plastic waste is now one of Britain¡¯s biggest exports to China. Container ships arrive in Britain from China loaded with consumer goods. Many of them then return-packed full of British waste.



¡¡¡¡Lianjiao, a remote village near Guangzhou, capital of south China¡¯s Guangdong province, was unknown to most of the world until it got caught in trashy business ¨C importingarbage from the UK.

¡¡¡¡Britain¡¯s Sky News TV aired a program titled ¡°Are you poisoning China?¡± last week, revealing how UK plastic waste was ending up in Lianjiao. The report sparked protests and calls for official actioand people were further incensed to learn Maersk Lines, which shipped China-made Christmas presents to Britain, was delivering the toxic payloads to China.

¡¡¡¡The business met its death when the Chinese government ended waste shipments from other countries, yesterday.