Beijing: Red hair and big earrings are out for female cabbies during Olympics

BEIJING (AP) - Red hair and the big earrings are out for women Beijing cab drivers in the run-up to next summer's Olympic Games, a state-run newspaper reported Wednesday. The bans were part of a 12-item self-improvement list given to cab drivers by the city's transport management bureau, the Beijing News said.

The list includes the usual pleas to be polite and not to smoke, spit or overcharge, plus the hair and jewelry tips for women. Men were told not to have long hair.

"Some drivers don't care about their appearance and this has a negative impact on the whole industry," the bureau's vice director Yao Kuo was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

"A person's hairstyle and accessories are their personal business, but cab drivers must remember they are a window for China's capital," Yao said.

Drivers who do not use their meters or refuse to pick up passengers will lose their licenses, the paper said.

It did not say if there would be any penalties for cab drivers who dyed their hair red or broke the other guidelines.

© The Canadian Press, 2007