Beijing - A Beijing soccer fan refused
to let the small matter of his house burning down disturb his
enjoyment of Tuesday's World Cup match between France and
Spain.
A fire broke out in a hutong in the centre of the Chinese
capital at 03:00 local time on Wednesday - kick-off time in
Hanover - and gutted the traditional courtyard dwelling, the
Beijing Daily Messenger reported.
"When the neighbours shouted 'fire!', I took my little baby
and ran out in my nightclothes," the man's wife told the paper.
"My husband paid no attention to the danger, just grabbed
the television and put it under his arm.
"After getting out of the house, he then set about finding
an electric socket to plug in and continue watching his game."
The anti-social timing of the matches broadcast from
Germany, which is six hours behind China, has forced some
Chinese fans to go to great lengths to follow the action.
One man quit his job in Beijing to return to his hometown
Chongqing so he could watch the whole tournament uninterrupted.
State news agency Xinhua reported that the 23-year-old's
boss at the IT company had offered him a pay rise, but he
turned it down flat, saying the World Cup was more important
than his job.
The Guangzhou Daily reported that local police were forced
to release a thief arrested for stealing a mobile phone when
the victim refused to press charges because he did not want to
miss the start of a match.
Although there are also many female World Cup fans in
China, one man in the south-eastern city had to sign a contract
with his wife agreeing to do all the housework during the month
of the finals so he could watch the matches at night.
Another from Putian, Fujian province, took a less
diplomatic approach, Xinhua reported.
When his cheers during the Argentina-Ivory Coast match woke
his wife and she switched off the television, he locked her in
their bedroom and settled back down to watch the game ignoring
her loud protests.
Reuters
