Admissions scandal The head of a Shandong-based pharmaceutical* company reportedly paid US$6.5 million in a college admissions scandal to help his daughter get admitted to Stanford University in the United States. Zhao Tao, co-founder and chairman of the multi-billion-dollar Shanghai-listed Buchang Pharma, was disclosed by U.S. media reports to pay Newport Beach college consultant William Singer the seven-figure sum to get his daughter into the prestigious school. His daughter Zhao Yusi, also known as Molly, was admitted to Stanford in 2017. The pharmaceutical company said on Saturday that it has been “studying the case.” Retired teachers China plans to recruit 4,000 retired teachers to give classes in rural schools during the 2019-2020 school year, in an effort to improve education in rural areas. The “silver-age” project is open to veteran headmasters and teachers under the age of 65, the Ministry of Education said in a statement. The volunteer teachers will serve for at least one academic year, the ministry said. Visa-free transit Nationals from 53 countries now enjoy a 144-hour visa-free period when transiting through Guangdong Province. The new move, approved by the State Council, is an extension of the 72-hour visa-free transit policy adopted in the province. Travelers can enter Guangdong via its three airports — Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Shenzhen International Airport and Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport — and exit via the province’s 32 ports, including Shenzhen’s Shatoujiao Checkpoint, Wenjindu Checkpoint, Huanggang Checkpoint, Luohu Checkpoint, Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint, Futian Checkpoint and the airport checkpoint. Tourist trips The country saw a total of 195 million domestic tourist trips made during the four-day May Day holiday, up 13.7 percent from last year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Tourism revenue reached 117.67 billion yuan (US$17.48 billion) during the holiday which lasted from Wednesday to Saturday, up 16.1 percent, according to the ministry. (SD-Agencies) | 