Strange parents of the month

BEIJING, Wanting a strange name for their child, a Chinese couple decided on the name @ (e-mail "at" symbol)l. But the shift has irritated administration bureaucrats who are struggling with a flood of unconventional names. Officials view the bizarre names as contaminating the Chinese language. Because printed Chinese uses characters as an alternative to the western alphabets, it can be hard to expand for new or foreign concepts or ideas. A Chinese language spokesperson says as of last year, only 129 names made up for 87% of all surnames in China.