Man busted for bringing salt across county lines

Source:Global Times Published: 2014-10-19 21:53:01

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Man busted for bringing salt across county lines

A restaurant owner in Henan Province received a public apology and a refund from salt industry regulators on Saturday after he was fined for transporting a half-carton of salt across county lines.

The Xinzheng Salt Administration refunded 200 yuan ($32.66) in fines to the owner, surnamed Huang, who had moved his noodle shop from the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to Xinzheng one month earlier, the Nandu Daily reported on Sunday.

 According to provincial law, restaurants are only allowed to use salt purchased from local companies.

"The salt was qualified product produced by Henan Salt Industry Corporation. Why was I fined for using salt purchased in Zhengzhou?" Huang asked.

"Salt sales are regulated by local governments to guarantee its safe use," explained an official surnamed Guo of Xinzheng Salt Administration, according to Nandu Daily.

The fine left a bad taste in the mouth of netizens.

"Such institutions should be abolished. Is there a potato, green pepper or cabbage administration?" posted one Web user.

"[This monopolistic system] should be abolished, as it curbs economic development. Cooking oil and grain markets are no longer monopolized, why salt?" Li Fuming of the National Standardization Administration told the Beijing Times on Sunday.

Official's musical career revives on a sour note

A video of an ear-splitting musical performance by an official in 2012 has recently resurfaced and gone viral on social media. 

In the four-minute-long video, He Xiuli, Party chief of Nanbu county in Sichuan Province, performed as an Erhu soloist, a bowed Chinese instrument with a Sichuan Symphony Orchestra (SSO) during a New Year's Concert in December 2012. He played so terribly that other musicians could be seen wincing.  

The painful performance resurfaced after Julien Gaudfroy, a French cellist and Beijing-based radio host, posted the video in his verified Sina Weibo account on Friday.

Guadrfroy, who has 118,050 followers, said of the performance it "tortured the audience's ears."

Li Wenhe, head of the SSO, said that the free concert  lasted for some 80 mutinies and He only played one song.

The orchestra received 80,000 yuan ($13,063) for the performance, lower than their regular fee, Li claimed.

Public opinion was split. Some Net users said that the orchestra should feel ashamed to stage with such an unskilled performer to curry favor with the official, while others suspected whether He used his influence or public funds to join the performance.

However, some support the amateur musician for trying.


Newspaper headline: Moment of netizen


Posted in: Odd News

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