QUIRKY WORLD ... Salad store’s promotion gets Spartan reception as police get fresh with Western models

CHINA: A salad store paraded dozens of half-naked Western men dressed as Spartans through China’s capital as a publicity stunt, causing a stir and drawing a crackdown by police who were photographed restraining some models the ground.

About 40 mostly blond and brown-haired men wearing bronze shorts, arm and leg guards, and capes styled after the attire of people in the ancient Greek city of Sparta marched in Beijing’s central business district and an upscale shopping area.

Bearing plastic tubs of salads, the bare-chested men attracted crowds of onlookers and posed for photos with women that circulated widely on social media.