Manned blimp makes first long flight

China's independently-developed AS700 civil manned airship completed its first trans-provincial flight on Wednesday, Aviation Industry Corporation of China said. The airship flew over 1,000 kilometers, the longest range of any domestic manned airship, AVIC, the country's leading aircraft manufacturer, said. The blimp took off on Tuesday morning from an airport in Hubei province and flew over neighboring Hunan province, with two stopovers at local airports, before arriving in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, at noon on Wednesday, AVIC said.

Mass wedding aims to curb extravagance

Five thousand couples from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will participate in a mass wedding ceremony on Sept 22, the All-China Women's Federation said on Wednesday. The traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, organized as a public benefit activity by the federation and five other institutions, aims to promote simplified weddings and discourage outdated customs like extravagant betrothal gifts.

Former political adviser stands trial

Qu Min, a former senior political adviser in Heilongjiang province, stood trial at a court in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, on Wednesday on a charge of accepting bribes. Qu was accused of leveraging his various positions in Heilongjiang and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to seek benefits for others from 2001 to 2022.In return, he accepted money and gifts worth 68.43 million yuan ($9.53 million), according to the indictment.

Xinhua