Fireworks were banned in Beijing during the Spring Festival.

Not.

But officially, they were.

The opposite seemed the case. In fact, some say, it was as if the city was under attack. The dilemma for public security officials is balancing the need for safety with the historical tradition of having fireworks during festivals in China.

The word that this year's fireworks claimed four lives and injured scores in the capital city during this year's 15-day Spring Festival alone, which ends on Thursday, makes the job even harder.

Since the ban was initiated in 1994, it has worked in reducing injuries and deaths, said Yu Hongyuan, vice-director of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, while admitting that this year was an anomaly.

"Frankly speaking, the cracks of fireworks were more frequently heard in downtown areas this year," Yu admitted.

He said there were more than 280 cities around China that prohibit firecrackers, however, 105 of them have lifted the ban in recent years, including some big cities like Shanghai, Hangzhou and Qingdao.

"Appeals for the city to allow fireworks during Spring Festival are soaring this year and my bureau faces unprecedented difficulties to implement the 11-year-long ban," said Yu.

Meanwhile, the cost of the ban keeps on increasing. More than 210,000 calls were made to have police dispatched during the festival, the largest number since 1994, Yu said.

Officers dealt with more than 730 cases of people who violated the ban during the festival this year -- 147 per cent more than last year.

And a total of 844 people involved in the cases have received various punishments, 120 per cent higher than 2003, said Yu.

The fireworks prohibition achieved good results in reducing deaths, fire accidents and pollution, Yu noted.

He said the number of casualties caused by fireworks went down 46 per cent annually on average, compared with that of the years before 1994.

And fires went down 53 per cent and noise complaints down 20 per cent.

The four people who died were involved in setting up fireworks during the festival, and all of them were in remote rural areas where fireworks are permitted, said Yu.

Li Jin, vice-director of the Fire Sub-bureau under the Public Security Bureau, said a total of 364 fires were reported during the Spring Festival this year, and people setting up firecrackers caused more than 60 per cent of them.

Li said most of the fire accidents happened in the suburbs and the direct economic loss of the fires was nearly 200,000 yuan (US$24,000), down 51 per cent from last year.

Despite the adverse impacts of setting up fireworks, many people still argue for lifting the ban because seeing fireworks is a centuries-old custom in China, originating from a legend. According to the tale, an evil beast named Nian assaults humans every Lunar New Year's Eve in ancient times.

Ancestors managed to scare Nian away by setting off firecrackers.

According to sources with the Beijing Legal Affairs Office, the city is considering whether to cautiously lift the fireworks ban next year or in the near future.

(China Daily February 4, 2004)