• Chang'an Avenue among 10 roads in Beijing to ban electric bikes

  People & Stories |

  Chang'an Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Beijing, is one of 10 roads in the city where electric bicycles will be banned starting from April 11, the Beijing News reported.

• Shenzhen bike crackdown nets 18,000

  People & Stories |

  Nearly 18,000 unlicensed or illegal electric bikes and freight tricycles were confiscated in Shenzhen during a crackdown on the vehicles that ended on Tuesday. Only 60 belonged to delivery workers, police said at a news conference.

• Honoring dead poses a burning question

  People & Stories |

  Visitors to China might be surprised to learn that pictures of George Washington can be seen on some locally printed currency - not the official paper money, of course, but on some bills burned for the dead during the Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day, which fell this year on Monday.

• Activists want dog festival taken off the menu

  People & Stories |

  After being rescued from a truck carrying dogs illegally in July, a three-year-old greyhound received a new name, new owner and new family.

• Children need a class act from male teachers

  People & Stories |

  Despite heightened efforts by Chinese schools to recruit more male teachers in an attempt to counter what education officials worry is a trend of increasing numbers of effeminate boys, male educators are still in short supply across pre-schools in Shanghai.

• Man finds calling in crematory

  People & Stories |

  The 51-year-old from Changshu, Jiangsu province, has worked in a crematorium since 1997.

• Signs in Chinese would help France attract more visitors

  People & Stories |

  China's ambassador to France, Zhai Jun, suggests adding Chinese language to billboards and instructions in tourist attractions every time he is consulted by the French about improving tourist services.

• Chinese eye eco-burials as graveyards fill up

  People & Stories |

  Cars from Beijing crowded the parking lot of Lingshan Pagoda Cemetery in Sanhe city days before Tomb Sweeping Day, which falls on Monday. Located about 50 kilometers from Beijing, the 50-hectare cemetery is one of the most popular burial sites for Beijing residents.

• Holiday upsurge leads to record-breaking box-office revenues in 1Q

  People & Stories |

  China's box office revenues jumped by 51 percent to a record 14.47 billion yuan ($2.23 billion) in the first quarter, thanks to a rise in audience numbers during the New Year holiday season

• Once-endangered pony makes comeback

  People & Stories |

  A sturdy Chinese breed of pony rediscovered 35 years ago is helping lead the growing popularity of horsemanship in the country.