cri banning fireworks

Fireworks are seen by many as an indispensable part of Chinese holidays, but their sparkle in the public eye is often shadowed by complaints about the side-effects they bring. This year, the dispute over whether or not fireworks should be re-

banned in China has started all over again. Let's take a closer look with our reporter Jingnan.

The Chinese Spring Festival saw its end in the spectacular display of fireworks on Lantern Day, which marks the last big event of the holiday season. While many

people are still savoring their happy memories of the festival, others couldn't wait to begin the debate on whether the fireworks should be banned.

"I think setting off fireworks is a bad tradition for Chinese. They're not safe with the risk of hurting people and damaging the property."

"The babies would be easily awoken and terrified by the firecrackers during sleep. Also for the senior people who have ear diseases, the fireworks would only

deteriorate the symptoms. "

"I am not for the fireworks". "They could pollute the environment, hurt people, or cause fires."

Others, however, remain steadfast fans of fireworks and disagree with the proposal to ban them.

"It doesn't feel like a real spring festival without fireworks." "It's a Chinese tradition to set off fireworks. It would be so much less fun if people are not allowed to do it any more."

"Of course we should not ban the fireworks! We have been hard-working for a

whole year. We deserve a chance to relax ourselves by setting them off. Otherwise, people might not even want to go back home that much since a spring festival without fireworks would be much less attractive."

During this year's Spring Festival, fireworks have contributed to a large number of fire accidents around China. The Ministry of Public Security reported that between Feb 2 and Feb 8, almost 12,000 fire accidents took place across the country,

causing 40 deaths, 37 injuries and more than 56 million yuan, or $10.8 billion US dollars in economic losses. Firework-related accidents have pushed people to

consider re-adopting a nationwide ban on fireworks that was lifted five years ago.

There's a reason for Chinese people's obsession with fireworks. The Chinese

tradition of firecrackers dates back a millennium or so, when, as the legend goes, a group of villagers iginited gunpowder to chase away Nian, a vicious monster who was believed to eat human beings.

Today, the old tradition is interpreted as a way to scare off evil spirits and attract the gods of good luck and fortune.

Despite their long history, the Chinese public is evenly divided today over the

continued use of fireworks in holiday celebrations. An online survey by http://wendang.chazidian.com found that 41% of respondents support readopting a ban on fireworks, while 40.6 percent say they are opposed to the ban.

Opinions among experts are quite polarized as well.

In response to a media report that attributes fireworks during the Festival holidays to worsening air pollution, Huangwei, an environmentalist, says the impact is actually not so serious.

"The exposure period from the fireworks is quite limited; say one week to two weeks the most, I think the impact would not be as significant as those regular emissions from vehicles and industries. So I don't strongly agree (with) or support the idea of banning the firework(s)."

Folklorist Qi Shoucheng even rules out the necessity of talking about the issue.

"This is a tradition that has been existing for thousands of years. It is not up to the modern people to abolish it."

Yet Xiao Xuehui, professor of Southwest University for Nationalities, holds a strong objection to the fireworks. She argues that ever since the ban on fireworks was lifted, there have been reports about blazes and fires every year. Xiao says the tragedies happen not only during the ignition of the fireworks but also throughout the storage and transportation processes.

She adds that setting off hazardous fireworks is actually illegal, ever if it is a

Chinese tradition.

"As far as the current laws are concerned, setting off fireworks is against PRC's Law on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution, Environmental

Protection Law and Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Noise Pollution. What seems to be incomprehensible to me is that as long as people

defend their acts with the excuse of protecting the Chinese tradition, they suddenly own the immunity for breaking the law."

Whether or not setting off fireworks is truly a lawbreaking activity, the reality is that no one has ever been arrested for shooting off the crackling gun powder.

Although the Chinese government did attempt to ban fireworks around the country in 1993, the ban was largely ignored, and people continued to set off firecrackers on special occasions. Five years ago, bowing to public outcry, the authorities finally agreed to end the restrictions on fireworks in Beijing and more than 200 other cities.

As the saying goes, there are two sides to every coin. But maybe the answer to the fireworks' dispute, is not a "yes" or a "no", but a "how" to make the fireworks safer and less disturbing.