Heroes worshipped Villains vilified

Hero of the week

Southern subway passengers

Taking the subway in China is a pretty bland affair if you live in the north, particularly Beijing. Commuters partake in the zombie march daily between interchange stations and, once aboard the train, promptly proceed to stare lifelessly into their smartphones or tablet computers.

Thankfully, life is more exciting in the south of the country, where a trip on the subway guarantees entertainment. Last month, Shanghai gave us a ballerina using her iPad while hanging upside down, while Guangzhou's metro treated commuters to a gruesome fight involving an old timer and young man who engaged in a bloody brawl over a seat.

This week, the Guangdong provincial capital's subway produced another highlight when a boy was photographed defecating aboard a train, an offense that carries a 50-yuan ($8) fine.　　

But our hero this week comes from Chongqing Municipality's subway, where a male passenger was snapped on a cellphone Monday unashamedly sitting with an inflatable sex doll on his lap. We're not sure if Chongqing fines passengers for bringing sex dolls on the subway, but we can only hope the man did the right thing and bought a 3-yuan ticket for her.

Villain of the week

Hit-and-don't-run cyclist

A teenage boy, an expensive BMW and an accident. No, this isn't another hit-and-run. It's a grimmer story that involves those involved in car accidents failing to uphold one of the oldest motoring traditions of all time: swindling insurance companies.

The Xinhua News Agency reported Monday that earlier this month Xu Lihan, 17, a high school student from Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, carelessly rode his bike into a parked BMW on his way to school. Fortunately its wealthy owner wasn't hurt, but a rearview mirror was smashed. Xu, obviously wanting to get out of class, then waited for the owner to return. He then scribbled a note apologizing for the damage and left his contact details. As anyone who's ever been in Xu's shoes knows, the best thing you can do in a situation like this is just walk away.

After all, this was a BMW - not a migrant worker's donkey cart. Sure, the motorist might lose his no claims bonus and could face a higher premium, but the insurance company would have come to the fore and covered most repair costs.