However, city dwellers have found this traditional entertainment may turn out to be troublesome or a hazard to people's lives, because firecrackers have been a major culprit of fires and casualties during the Spring Festival period.

"During the last Spring Festival, the number of fires each day tripled, compared with 17 fires per day in the whole year on average," said Zhou Meiliang, a spokesman from the Shanghai Fire Fighting Bureau. "And about half of those fires were related to fireworks."

Firework bans

To tackle the problem, Guangzhou, in South China's Guangdong Province, led the way by placing a ban on firecrackers early in 1991, and soon most large and medium cities throughout the country followed suit in a bid to reduce fires and ensure a safe holiday.

The Shanghai government at one stage forbade setting off fireworks anywhere in the city during 1994 and 1995. However, the rule yielded little effect, because it was not easy to abolish a 1,000-year-old custom from people's lives.

Therefore, since 1996, a partial ban on fireworks has been introduced to the city as a substitute for the total ban, with local authorities stipulating the proper time and proper places to set off fireworks.

The prohibition met the same embarrassments in other cities too, and every year before the Chinese New Year, the topic of fireworks triggers a heated debate, with most people calling for a lifting of the ban in order to observe tradition.

In recent years several cities, such as Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province, Shijiazhuang in North China's Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality have cancelled the prohibition by following Shanghai's approach of a partial ban.

Beijing, in contrast, adopted the tough ban in 1993, and this year still insisted on the prohibition despite the many voices raised in opposition. Local authorities in Beijing said the city has witnessed a big drop in the number of fires and casualties due to the tough controls.

Two fatalities

Whether a partial ban or a whole ban is adopted, the crackdown on illegal and sub-standard fireworks poses to be an important problem to be confronted by all cities.

Illegal fireworks are usually simply made without any trademarks or warning signs, with most produced in underground workshops without licences, mainly in Jiangxi, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces.

"These illegal fireworks may threaten people's lives because they are enormous in size, and usually contain much more powder than stipulated by the standard," said Gu Jinlong, from the Shanghai Fire Fighting Bureau, who is in charge of the inspection of dangers. "Also, some sensitive chemicals, which easily cause explosion, are often found added to these fireworks."

In the Spring Festival of 2000, illegal fireworks cost two lives in the city, including a primary school student who had his head blown off.

On January 21, 2003, another two children in Pudong were injured by a cement board after setting off firecrackers which caused an explosion that sent the board flying into the air.

On top of inspections, local authorities several years ago established a special fund to reward those who reported illegal fireworks, and another 2 million yuan (US$241,838) has been pumped into the fund this year.

Since last December police have so far received more than 190 calls, and some 300,000 yuan (US$36,276) has already been paid out to informers.

On January 13, police seized more than 1,300 boxes of illegal fireworks and three suspects in Yangpu District after receiving a call.

On January 15, some 400 boxes of inferior fireworks and firecrackers from East China's Jiangxi Province were confiscated. On the night of January 16, a call successfully helped police find another 500 boxes in Baoshan District.

Since early last June, police have strengthened their checks on samples from Jiangsu, Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces.

As a result, 250 varieties of fireworks have been permitted to enter the city.

Also, licences for selling standard fireworks will be issued to some 1,100 stores, with around 100 within the Inner Ring Road.

(Shanghai Star February 13, 2003)