October 14, 2009
The Chengdu Evening News, like many Chinese newspapers, leads with this story:
Lu Zhengcao, the last surviving army general from the first generation of PLA officers, died yesterday at the age of 106. Lu joined the Communist Party of China in 1937 and saw battle against the Japanese and the Kuomintang (KMT) army.
Many newspapers also ran with the story of farmer Tao Xiangli’s homemade submarine. News of the submarine first emerged in September, but the farmer yesterday invited media to witness a test dive that lasted about 4 minutes in Langfang Reservoir near Beijing of a homemade submarine.
Tao made the submarine himself using an using second hand oil tanks and other used mechanical parts that cost him about 30,000 yuan over the two years it took to build.
Tao is part of a growing group of Chinese farmers who make robots, helicopters and other machines using spare parts and a lot of ingenuity (see link below).
- Chengdu Evening News (Chinese): Lu Zhengcao passes away
- Xinhua: Last of New China’s first generals passes away
- Beijing Youth Daily (Chinese): Shanzhai submarine test dive
- Inventorspot: 7 amazing Chinese farmer inventions and mods