Beijing’s Fireworks Management Bureau has released official stats for the New Year’s Eve fireworks celebrations: 194 fires, 388 injured and 2 dead.
Outside of Beijing there were countless fires and injured and another 40 dead. Many more people were killed tackling the fires. After 102 days without rain or snow in Beijing, city officials prepared for the fireworks by dousing many areas in water to minimise the spreading of fires but in other areas of the country there were 30 forest fires, leading to the complete destruction of 3 forests and a 1000 year old temple in Fuzhou, capital of East China’s Fujian province
The two deaths in Beijing were caused by setting off overly large, shoddily made fireworks. In the villages outside of Beijing chains of firecrackers are sold at around £1 per thousand, with drums of 5,000 being commonplace. Traditionally these were made of powder wrapped up in paper rolls about the diameter of chopsticks, but over time have evolved into various sizes and shapes, some as large as a watermelon.
With the amount of destruction this year the government is once again considering a ban in favour of organised displays, so I’m lucky to have seen this year it in all its glory. Bans were enforced for a 13 year period starting in the 1990’s but were overturned following public pressure for 2009. In unrelated news, that was the year the CCTV office tower burnt down after rogue sparks set fire to it on New Year’s Eve…
In Chinese mythology an evil spirit called the Nian would cause terror amongst villages on the first day of the lunar New Year. It brought the long darkness and severe cold of winter that killed many people. The villagers would try to scare away the Nian by burning green bamboo that crackles and pops. After the invention of gunpowder this was added to the bamboo to increase the noise and over time evolved into firecrackers. Thousands of years later the tradition continues with the setting off of fireworks for a two week period. Pretty much continuously…This beautifully made video gives an idea of the skyline, with the real fireworks starting around the 1.16 mark
Being here in Shanghai, the NY Eve fireworks were breathtaking. Loud/Annoying, yes, but breathtaking nonetheless.
The fireworks do get a bit much after a while. There’s a chart here that sums up the experience nicely, and not just for foreigners from comments I’m hearing: World of Chinese: How Foreigners Experience Spring Festival.
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