The monkey year enters on tiptoes
Print Edition
Minhang celebrated the Chinese New Year in relative quietness as people in the district joined inner Shanghai in observing a ban on fireworks and firecrackers.
The ban applied only to areas of the city inside the Outer Ring Road, where people faced fines of up to 500 yuan (US$76) if police caught them letting off fireworks.
Although most of Minhang sits outside that zone, residents not affected by the restriction mostly chose to forgo the traditional pyrotechnics.
“Usually on the eve of Chinese New Year, you start to hear firecrackers from around 6pm,” said Pei Yuxin, a resident in Xinzhuang. “The noise would reach its peak around midnight. It would be like a battlefield outside. This year, however, it was absolutely silent throughout the night.”
The ban was issued last month by the city government to prevent poor air quality from worsening due to the pall of smoke that such widespread use of fireworks creates. In the past few years, the air quality index hit “severe polluted” levels during the annual celebration. That means the PM2.5 index was higher than 250 milligrams per cubic meter.
“Although Xinzhuang is an area where we were allowed to ignite fireworks, most of us believed we could do something for the city by refraining,” Pei said.
The absence of fireworks also extended to the night of January 4 on the lunar calendar, the eve of the day welcoming the God of Fortune in Chinese folklore.
“I used to light up firecrackers on that night as well,” said Pei. “But, to be honest, I think it is superstitious to believe that the sound of firecrackers will bring fortune to a home.”
China invented fireworks in the 12th century, and they have been a traditional part of Spring Festival celebrations in China since the Song Dynasty (960-1276 AD).
According to an ancient myth, monsters lurked during the holiday, poised to devour people on New Year’s Eve. The noise of firecrackers was said to scare away evil spirits.
But in modern-day China, fireworks have become the bane of clean air. Their use in concentrated volumes contributes to the smog problem that authorities are now trying to address.
Even with Shanghai’s first ban on pyrotechnics, the air quality across the city didn’t sparkle for the New Year.
For most of the first week of the Year of the Monkey, air quality in Shanghai was “slight” or “medium” in pollution levels.
According to the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, the pollution was caused by rising temperatures and weaker wind, which combined to trap particles in the city.
In addition to the environmental benefits, the ban on fireworks was expected to curtail the usual injuries some people sustain from handling fireworks.
During the holiday, no fire caused by firecrackers were reported in the city.
The ban was a blessing for sanitary crews. Normally, they face the busiest time of the year, cleaning up the debris of fireworks. Often they have had to work into the early morning hours after Chinese New Year’s Eve and January 4, sweeping away the dregs of celebration.
But this year, fewer were called to duty during the holiday, and those who had to work left the duty by 10pm, according to district sanitation authorities.
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