"I am always busier during the festival holidays than usual," the 31-year-old police officer said.

Tan has been working with the Dangerous Articles Administration Department with Beijing Public Security Bureau for more than nine years, almost since the Beijing People's Congress first passed the law banning firecrackers in urban areas.

According to the deputies who endorsed the law, the ban on firecrackers hopes to prevent fires, explosions, air pollution and injuries, especially during the biggest festival in China.

Chongqing Municipality as well as a number of provincial capital cities, including Guangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Xi'an, Jinan and Lanzhou have also banned firecrackers and small fireworks in urban centres. Shanghai forbids firecrackers in most downtown areas where business offices and shops are concentrated.

A public poll in 1992 indicated that 80 per cent of urban Beijing residents were in favour of the ban.

Ten years later, a poll conducted last year showed that a good percentage of people began to miss the days when they could set off firecracker celebrations, according to the bureau.

Ten years have been quite a long time, enough for people to forget about the unceasingly sharp bangs and serious wounds caused by shoddy firecrackers, said Qian Jin, director of Tan's department.

Such lenient and forgiving attitudes might explain why many people have picked up the old habit again after a lapse of several years, he added.

But Qian and Tan have not missed the firecrackers. For nine years, Tan has spent the days of the festival in patrol cars and by hotline telephones.

He has also spent the festival hours counting the number of casualties and fires, all caused by festival firecrackers and even small fireworks. A year ago during the Spring Festival holidays, they, along with the fire brigade, received calls to attend some 158 fires caused by firecrackers. About 26 people were reportedly wounded.

"Actually more than four-fifths of Beijing, are allowed firecrackers," said Qian.

To adapt to the increasing desire for firecracker fun, the bureau has defined more than 600 special areas outside urban areas, where setting-off firecrackers is permitted, these areas are equipped with fire prevention facilities, spacious grounds and convenient emergency medical care personnel.

Tan wishes those who long for the "noisy" old days will only set off firecrackers in the appointed places so that he and his colleagues will meet less unwelcome eyes during their patrols along the streets in the banned areas.

"All of us want people to have a happy and safe Spring Festival. What we do is just to protect people's security," he said.

Looking at the ban

Wei Lili, in her 70s, said she could enjoy the clear booms and colourful flashes from a distance on the balcony of her 20th-floor apartment near the Third Ring Road of Beijing during the festival holidays.

She felt excited about the firecrackers because they went off at least 2 kilometres away from her, she said.

"We aged people were tired of unstoppable sharp explosions which always happened at lunar new year's eve in the early 1990s," she said. "The sounds not only made for sleepless nights but also broke up our regular life schedules."

Tan from the police bureau said most of the complaint calls pouring into the hotline were from aged people who lived in the newly-built residential communities where setting off firecrackers were permitted.

The complaints concentrated on the excessive noise from the firecrackers, which also triggered many car alarms all night in the communities, Tan added.

But some younger people share a different view about the firecrackers.

Ling Dongsheng, a 27-year-old businessman, said he didn't feel annoyed or offended by the loud and sharp bangs.

"I will feel the festive mood is incomplete without firecrackers," he said. "But I agree with the law because lighting firecrackers in urban areas will disturb those who don't like it."

On the lunar new year's eve over the past several years, Ling has usually driven out with his friends to the northern suburbs to enjoy the excitement of the firecrackers.

The main benefactors of the restrictions have arguably been holiday resorts built in the suburbs.

Ninety per cent of their guest rooms had been booked in the first week of this month and "firecrackers allowed" were designed as the drawcard in their advertisements, reported by an early news bulletin on Beijing Evening News.

Guo Changqing, staff from Qinglongxia Holiday Resort in Huairou District in northern Beijing, said his resort has specially defined a 50,000-square-metre yard for the guests to set off firecrackers.

"As more private car owners appear in Beijing, spending holidays in the resort has become popular. When the Spring Festival arrives, setting off firecrackers is no doubt one of the biggest attractions to those who live in downtown areas," Guo said.

Market control

Qian Jin said to ensure a safe and sound festival, Qian and his colleagues with the police department acted earlier than usual to crack down on the illegal firecracker producers and traders, which are believed to be the main sources of low-quality firecrackers that are to blame for injuries.

The capital's police seized 4 million firecrackers worth 60,000 yuan (US$7,250) in Beijing last year from February to December.

Most of the firecrackers are illegally produced by private workshops in regions in and around Beijing. They often contain too much gun powder and banned chemicals, which makes them particularly dangerous, according to Qian.

Qian quoted a case in which they detained an illegal producer in Tongzhou District of eastern Beijing.

The producer rented several houses in a village and produced tons of firecrackers without any security or fire prevention facilities. "A situation where any minor spark could cause a big tragedy," Qian recalled.

In recent years, firecrackers, which used to be small explosive devices, are now being made more elaborate, and thus more dangerous, said Tan Quan.

He said that the biggest firecracker he once seized was one 30 centimetres in diameter and 100 centimetres in height. "The gun powder from an explosion was enough to destroy a big wall," said Tan, who majored in chemistry.

Even smaller or legally produced firecrackers have some potential dangers to children, said Tan.

During the last Spring Festival, the right ear of an 8-year-old girl in Beijing was heavily injured by a small firecracker she was holding.

The girl subconsciously covered her ear when she saw a big firecracker nearby was ready to go off, while totally ignoring the ignited one in her hand, recalled Tan.

Tan recommended that parents with young children should watch carefully when their kids play with firecrackers and should buy the legally produced works to ensure the safety of their youngsters.

"If the resources of illegal firecrackers are controlled, our heavy security presence will be largely eased," he said.

A tradition that has withstood the test of time in China must have something unique that appeals to the people but now it should be reserved in a more standard, reasonable and safe way, Qian said.

(China Daily January 30, 2003)