We've got an all-you-can-eat roundup of recent news ranging from earthquakes, Gary Locke, lots of alcohol and mail-order brides.

Following the tremors of last week, a director of city construction admitted that Beijing’s emergency shelters can only accommodate 2.3 million people, approximately 10 percent of the capital's population. What happened to the rest of the safe zones? Many have been sold as land for theme parks and golf courses, so you might not have a place to stay but you’ll have no problem working on your swing.

Gary Locke is a magnet for the media, as we've seen on numerous occasions. Ambassador Locke recently wowed netizens and irritated state media once again. Last October, he knelt in front of a schoolchild so that he could talk with her at eye level. So why is the photo is getting widespread online circulation seven months later? Because the girl recently wrote an essay (translation here) about her meeting with the humble public servant.

The summer is a great time to get outdoor and also a great time to drink, but watch out when you try combining the two. In May, a boisterous and booze-laden hiking trip nearly had tragic consequences for a 24-year-old Canadian student when he plummeted from a section of the Jiankou Great Wall.

Despite the frenzy around Sanlitun whenever a new Apple products debuts in China, the iPhone is no longer in the top five of a 3G smartphone ranking. This latest report may support an argument put forth by a Harvard Business Review blogger that the iPhone is at a huge disadvantage outside its native ecosystem and that its faddish popularity among fashion-conscious women will not save it in the long-run.

Throw out those matching T-shirts that you and your significant other like to wear when you're out on the town together. The latest fashion trend for expressing undying love is to dress in each other's clothing. This cross-dressing movement is being spearheaded by college couples. Tips: Girls should opt for looser skirts and dresses that their boyfriends have a fighting chance of fitting into.

College students aren’t the only ones that are offering up head-scratching theories. Two  bumbling thieves swallowed 11 nail clippers in the belief that it would make them guilt-free when taken to the police station. Unfortunately for the pair, the diet was not a success and they were nabbed shortly after a robbery.

Gamers beware: Diablo 3-related merchandise is not legal for sale on Taobao, which led to the online sellers to change the name to the similar-sounding Daboluo 3 (大菠萝3), which translates literally to "three pineapples." Some users who eagerly plunked down RMB 500 to buy merchandise related to the fantasy-horror video game were horrified when they received ... three real pineapples in the mail.

Another online purchase that is popular in China are Vietnamese mail-order brides. Several dating websites offer prospective buyers the chance to choose a bride for themselves (or their son) from an online catalogue and to take a trip to Vietnam to meet and marry her. As you might expect, the service is in fact illegal but perhaps not for the reason you think. The legal issues come up because of the international aspect of the pairings, but authorities can't take action against grooms who return from their Vietnamese trip with a blushing bride. Fittingly, for such a personal and intimate life decision, group rates are available.

Finally, if you have some spare change in the cushions, how about buying some baijiu? This month, a Beijing auction house will sell off 4,000 bottles of a particularly sought-after 60-year-old Moutai. A similar lot sold for RMB 150 million last year. If that’s a little too rich, the 3 kuai bottles will have just have to do.