With nine educational diplomas under his belt, Zhou Baokuan can definitely claim the title of “smartest man in China.”

When it comes to education, we all want the best for our kids, but I think Zhou Baokuan’s parents might have pushed him a little to far, when he was a child. I mean, the man started studying and even though he is now 53 years old, he has no intention of stopping.

In recognition of his incredible desire to study, an organization known as China World Records Association decided to award Zhou the title of “man with most diplomas in the world.” Over the course of 35 years of intense studying (sometimes without sleep) the man earned a total of nine diplomas, including three doctoral diplomas and two masters degrees. Zhou, a resident of Shenyang City, admits it wasn’t easy getting this many diplomas, and reckons he spent around 126,500 hours studying for them

Believe it or not, Zhou Baokuan is currently studying to get his fourth doctoral degree, at Fudan University.

Tough nut tot Yuqi Lui has astonished medics with his miracle recovery from a nightmare accident that left a pair of razor sharp shears embedded next to his brain. Yuqi, four, had been cutting up traditional good luck scrolls with his family for a party at their remote village home in Erbozi, eastern China.

But he tripped as he was running to meet dad Tiancun from work and jammed the scissors straight through his eye as he slammed into the floor. Mum Fengshuang explained: “I heard him shout daddy and run out. I looked out the window expecting to see him come into view and then suddenly I heard him scream.

“It was a terrible high pitched wail and my heart leapt into my mouth. “I ran and when I got to him I saw the huge pair of scissors that he had been using to cut up the scrolls was jutting from his face.”

Yuqi’s parents borrowed a farm truck for an agonising ride around local hospitals seeking treatment for their stricken son. And after 17 hours on the road, surgeons at Beijing’s Capital Institute of Pediatrics at the Xiehe Hospital agreed to operate. X-rays showed the blades had only been stopped from reaching Yuqi’s brain when they were caught on his jawbone.

“After examining Yuqi the specialist surgeon Dr Zhao Jizhi came to see us and explained surgery was the only option - and it had to be done as soon as possible. “He told us that if the scissors had been pulled out when the accident happened our son would have died,” said mum Fengshuang.

Now Yuqi had made a full recovery from his ordeal after two weeks in hospital. “It cost us all the savings we had but it was worth it to get the sunshine back into our lives,” said his mum.