Local officials in China often proclaim edicts that are poorly thought
out or simply hilarious. Some of them better ones include:
1) "Officials of Hanchuan, a city in Hubei Province, tried a similar
ploy, with the same effect. Determined to boost the local brand of
baijiu, a sinus-clearing distilled clear liquor, they ordered state
workers to buy a total of about $300,000 worth in a year. Reporters
calculated that each employee would have had to buy three bottles a
day to meet the quota. The rule was later rescinded."
2) "But a 2003 regulation that bars male officials in Sichuan Province
from hiring female secretaries may still be on the books. China Youth
Daily reported then that the official who initiated the regulation
wanted “to ensure that work can be carried out."
3) "No one ever precisely pinned down the origin of an order this May
to kill all dogs in the town of Heihe, on the Russian border in the
far northwest. Media reports suggested one town official became irate
after a dog bit him as he strolled along a river. But the official
refused to confirm that.
Town leaders organized teams of police officers and ordered them to
beat to death any dog who ventured into a public space. China National
Radio, a state-run agency, broadcast the citizens’ outrage. “When we
need to walk our dogs now, we have to first go out and look for cops,”
one dog owner lamented."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/world/asia/26salute.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
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