Housekeepers fly home while local families scratch heads, wash dishes.

WORKERS' FLIGHT:
As Spring Festival fever approaches, local families have been hit by the increasingly popular trend of migrant nannies packing up for the holidays and heading back home.
Top nanny agencies across Guangzhou and Shenzhen confirmed they are suffering a "serious shortage" and that many families will have "no child supervisors" during China's most important traditional festival.
It is believed that around 63 percent of all household workers in the Pearl River 
region are heading home for Chinese New year, the majority not to return until the Lantern Festival on February 21. "Guangzhou now needs at least 70,000 housekeepers over the holidays," said Chen Ting, president of Guangdong Household Management Association. In Shenzhen, the shortage is estimated to be around 55,000.
The baby boom in 2007 (the auspicious Year of The Pig) has only intensified the demand for nannies. Some agencies are receiving up to 120 calls a day, many wanting "full-time" child minders and even offering "special bonuses."
Although figures are difficult to obtain, nannies are usually paid less than 1,000RMB a month. However, for those who decide to stay, their salaries could double or even triple.

 IT'S A ZOO OUT THERE!
MIDGET MARES :
Four dwarf horses from Guanxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have become stars at Guangzhou Zoo. The tallest of the horses stands at just 106cm, while the shortest is a baby-faced 86cm. Dwarf horses are under "state protection" in China, with numbers 
averaging less than 2,000 on the mainland.

TRASHY BITCH:
A dog has become a hero with homeless trash collectors on Guangzhou's Tiyu Xi Lu, Tianhe District. Each afternoon, Pi Pi follows its master picking up trash on the bustling street, but even when her master sleeps, 
Pi Pi carries on picking up bottles, which she leaves next to her dozing owner.

YOUR SUPER 60-SECOND NEWS WRAP
VALENTINE SURPRISE :
A man onboard the first AirAsia flight from Guangzhou to Kuala Lumpur surprised passengers last month when he stood up and
proposed marriage to his girlfriend.
"We are high up in the sky, a place nearer to God," said Zhou Liang, 27, to Yan Yaming. "Allow me to ask, will you marry me?" The proposal met with loud cheers as Yaming, also 27, nodded "yes". AirAsia granted the happy couple a free return ticket to Phuket as a wedding gift. Wonder how many couples will follow suit?

THOSE LUCKY CANTONESE!
Guandong Province continues to be the luckiest place in China to win on the lottery. The Province has issued more than 34.5 billion yuan in lottery tickets in the last 20 years, raising some 11.2 billion yuan for charities and local welfare organizations.
Guangdong is responsible for over 12 percent of all tickets sold in China and is home to 6,500 lottery centers. But the craze for the lottery shows no sign of imploding. This year alone, ticket sales are expected to surpass 5.5. billion yuan.

UNHEALTHY MARRIAGES
Some 22 couples in Dongguan postponed their marriages last year after pre-wedding health checkups showed "bad" results. The number of pre-marital check-ups grew tenfold in 2007 when the city offered free "before wedding" visits to the doctor. It is believed most of the results were concerned with pregnancy issues.

PORN BUST
Shanghai railway police have confiscated 8,500 pornographic DVDs disguised as "auto parts" in the city's north railway station last month. Two men confessed to buying the discs wholesale in Guangzhou in late 2007. They had hoped to earn big money during this week's Spring Festival as, in their words, more people "stay at home and watch DVDs." The police confiscated all the bootleg sex DVDs and detained the suspects. The case is still under scrutiny.