Front Page of the Day is a daily review of the news on the front page of one Chinese newspaper, selected from a newsstand in Beijing’s central business district.
August 7, 2007
The top headline of The Beijing News announces that a special traffic lane will be set up for the Olympics. Rather than closing entire streets, the inside lane of more than 200km of roadways, including the Second and Fourth Rings, will be devoted exclusively to Olympic traffic.
A second headline reports that the Development and Reform Commission has announced two new price control regulations to combat rising prices.
The front page photo shows a partially-submerged van near Anhua Bridge on the North Third Ring Road. The area was flooded during massive rainstorms yesterday. Interestingly, Danwei offices outside of Jianguomen remained bone-dry all day.
In further wacky weather news, some citizens have reported that it snowed for five minutes on Chengfu Road in Haidian District. This follows earlier reports of snow on the East Third Ring Road last week that led to a spat between Beijing newspapers. Chinese folklore says that snow in summer indicates that there has been severe injustice done.
A meteorologist said this kind of phenomenon is definitely impossible. “The rain drops break into small pieces in strong winds, so people will see those small pieces like snowflake through their windows,” the expert explained. This time there’s photographic evidence so you can judge for yourself.