Beijing raises the bar on free bus rides

BEIJING, Jun 2 (Reuters) Chinese children are getting taller, forcing the Beijing city government to raise the height limit for free bus rides and other perks by 10 cm state media said today.

''Because of the growth in height, China's 360 million children have run into problems of buying tickets,'' Xinhua news agency said.

The average height of Chinese children had risen about 2.3 to 3 cm every decade for the past half-century, Xinhua said, quoting the Beijing Municipal Children's Studies Institute, thanks to improved nutrition and health care.

Regulations adopted in 1949, when the Communists came to power, originally stated that any child both below 7 years of age and below 1.1 metres was eligible for free bus rides, free entry to parks and theatres and free school lunches.

Xinhua said the average height of a Chinese 5-year-old was currently 1.2 metres, meaning a lot of children aged between 5 and 7 felt they were being short changed.

Now the height limit stands at 1.2 metres in Beijing and at 1.3 metres in the northeastern province of Liaoning and in Zhengzhou, the capital of central Henan province.

REUTERS SI HT1242