`Mandarin Duck Bath'

BEIJING (Reuter): If you're a Chinese government official, don't try the "Mandarin Duck Bath" in your hotel room with a prostitute.

This was learned the hard way recently by a clutch of local government functionaries who got fined, lost their coveted Communist Party memberships or even their jobs after getting caught with their pants down, according to a copy of Wednesday's Yangcheng Evening News received in Beijing yesterday.

The unlucky lotharios included three legal department officials from Guangdong province's Zhanjiang city and the vice mayor of Guangxi province's Beiliu city, who led a delegation to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone near Hong Kong.

Police caught several members of the Beihai delegation in the act, including one man who was in the midst of a "Mandarin Duck Bath" with his partner, the newspaper said.

It did not go into detail about what the special bath entails, but it is named after the water fowl renowned in Chinese tradition for its affectionate ways.