GEOFFREY YORK
BEIJING -- For the past 10 nights, Beijing's central neighbourhoods have resembled a war zone.
Explosions have rocked the narrow alleys and courtyards from sunset to dawn. Smoke and debris have choked the streets. At least one person was killed by the explosions. Two people have had eyeballs removed and others were paralyzed.
After a noisy and chaotic week of fireworks that inflicted injuries on 663 people in Beijing alone, China is debating the heavy cost of its traditional New Year celebrations.
The Chinese capital had banned fireworks in 1994 because of fears of personal injuries and pollution. But under popular pressure, it agreed to lift the ban last year. Many people had said that a revival of fireworks would help to protect China's ancient rituals and fend off the invasion of Western influences.
According to traditional beliefs, fireworks scare away demons and evil spirits, while bringing good luck and fortune. They are ignited during the Lunar New Year holiday, also known as the Spring Festival, which ran from Feb. 17 to 24.
Just a year after lifting the ban on fireworks, Beijing seemed to become caught in a frenzy of celebration. Firecrackers were sold at hundreds of giant stalls at major intersections. More than 510,000 boxes of firecrackers were sold at 2,000 official outlets in Beijing, compared with 240,000 boxes last year.
Many streets are littered with piles of red cardboard casings from used firecrackers. A record 2,600 tonnes of debris were removed from the streets by 87,500 sanitation workers.
Smoke from the firecrackers was so heavy it affected the weather. The smoke was described as a contributing factor to the haze and smog that blanketed Beijing last week, causing delays or cancellations to about 500 flights.
And the explosions are far from finished, even though the holiday is over. Beijing regulations allow the firecrackers to be lit from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day until the Lantern Festival on March 4.
When the ban on firecrackers was lifted in Beijing last year, the state media portrayed it as a victory for "civic rights" and "the will of the people." Surveys found that 50 to 80 per cent of residents wanted to get rid of the ban.
(The government also admitted that the ban had been ineffective and widely ignored anyway.) Hundreds of other Chinese cities have also lifted their bans on firecrackers in recent years. Authorities promised "safety measures" to prevent injuries, but those measures seem to have failed dismally.
The wave of injuries this year was not unprecedented. Chinese media reported that 654 people were injured by firecrackers in Beijing a year ago. But the injuries this year were more gruesome and serious, sparking a backlash in the media.
"At every point, from production to consumption, the firecrackers carry the danger of blood and fire," said a writer in the Zhujiang Evening News. "It destroys the normal life of most people. Experts say the noise is seriously affecting our physical and mental health. It damages not only our hearing, but also our hearts and blood vessels. And it causes people to become irritable and exhausted."
The newspaper said it was "nonsense" to suggest that the ban on firecrackers had weakened the traditional culture. "Time is passing, and the Spring Festival has to modernize. The kowtow has been abolished -- isn't that normal? Exploding firecrackers is a useless appendix to Spring Festival culture."
In the big cities, many affluent people complained that the firecrackers had damaged their cars and terrified their pets. Some people with heart conditions said the noise had forced them to flee to hospitals for shelter. And the paper debris from the firecrackers is a fire hazard, city officials said.
"If we can launch spaceships into orbit and send submarines to the depths of the ocean, why do we have no idea how to produce safe and clean firecrackers?" asked the Beijing News.
BEIJING -- For the past 10 nights, Beijing's central neighbourhoods have resembled a war zone.
Explosions have rocked the narrow alleys and courtyards from sunset to dawn. Smoke and debris have choked the streets. At least one person was killed by the explosions. Two people have had eyeballs removed and others were paralyzed.
After a noisy and chaotic week of fireworks that inflicted injuries on 663 people in Beijing alone, China is debating the heavy cost of its traditional New Year celebrations.
The Chinese capital had banned fireworks in 1994 because of fears of personal injuries and pollution. But under popular pressure, it agreed to lift the ban last year. Many people had said that a revival of fireworks would help to protect China's ancient rituals and fend off the invasion of Western influences.
According to traditional beliefs, fireworks scare away demons and evil spirits, while bringing good luck and fortune. They are ignited during the Lunar New Year holiday, also known as the Spring Festival, which ran from Feb. 17 to 24.
Just a year after lifting the ban on fireworks, Beijing seemed to become caught in a frenzy of celebration. Firecrackers were sold at hundreds of giant stalls at major intersections. More than 510,000 boxes of firecrackers were sold at 2,000 official outlets in Beijing, compared with 240,000 boxes last year.
Many streets are littered with piles of red cardboard casings from used firecrackers. A record 2,600 tonnes of debris were removed from the streets by 87,500 sanitation workers.
Smoke from the firecrackers was so heavy it affected the weather. The smoke was described as a contributing factor to the haze and smog that blanketed Beijing last week, causing delays or cancellations to about 500 flights.
And the explosions are far from finished, even though the holiday is over. Beijing regulations allow the firecrackers to be lit from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day until the Lantern Festival on March 4.
When the ban on firecrackers was lifted in Beijing last year, the state media portrayed it as a victory for "civic rights" and "the will of the people." Surveys found that 50 to 80 per cent of residents wanted to get rid of the ban.
(The government also admitted that the ban had been ineffective and widely ignored anyway.) Hundreds of other Chinese cities have also lifted their bans on firecrackers in recent years. Authorities promised "safety measures" to prevent injuries, but those measures seem to have failed dismally.
The wave of injuries this year was not unprecedented. Chinese media reported that 654 people were injured by firecrackers in Beijing a year ago. But the injuries this year were more gruesome and serious, sparking a backlash in the media.
"At every point, from production to consumption, the firecrackers carry the danger of blood and fire," said a writer in the Zhujiang Evening News. "It destroys the normal life of most people. Experts say the noise is seriously affecting our physical and mental health. It damages not only our hearing, but also our hearts and blood vessels. And it causes people to become irritable and exhausted."
The newspaper said it was "nonsense" to suggest that the ban on firecrackers had weakened the traditional culture. "Time is passing, and the Spring Festival has to modernize. The kowtow has been abolished -- isn't that normal? Exploding firecrackers is a useless appendix to Spring Festival culture."
In the big cities, many affluent people complained that the firecrackers had damaged their cars and terrified their pets. Some people with heart conditions said the noise had forced them to flee to hospitals for shelter. And the paper debris from the firecrackers is a fire hazard, city officials said.
"If we can launch spaceships into orbit and send submarines to the depths of the ocean, why do we have no idea how to produce safe and clean firecrackers?" asked the Beijing News.