Li has bad news for those about to wed
Print Edition
Police officer Li Jun is not popular with young couples in Taiyuan.
Every night he leaves Tangming police station to persuade newly-weds to forego tradition and avoid lighting fireworks at midnight. More often than not, he is scolded as a buzzkill.
But Li’s work is part of the fight against the smog enveloping the capital city of north China’s Shanxi province, especially during winter months when coal-heating results in the most severe pollution of the year.
In Taiyuan it’s traditional for parents whose son is to be married the next day to set off midnight fireworks to announce the happy occasion and spread good luck.
The city has a fireworks ban in place but it is often ignored. For families, most of whom only have one child, it is their only opportunity to observe the tradition. It is simply too ingrained to eliminate.
“During the popular wedding days, such as Labor day in May, the National Day holiday in October, and other dates considered lucky, people rarely follow the ban,” Li said.
On the night of December 5, Li, on a regular patrol, saw the remnants of a wedding banquet in front of a restaurant. He obtained the address of the groom from the restaurant, visited his parent and began his routine smog-prevention talk.
The next day, he asked a colleague to pay a follow-up visit to the family to keep them from setting off fireworks.
“There are punitive measures like fines and detention, but our main job is to persuade and prevent them from doing it in the first place, because once the fireworks are lit, the pollutants are discharged,” he said.
Firecrackers release large amounts of toxic gas and particles such as sulphur dioxide, which cause severe air pollution. With smog particularly bad in northern Chinese cities like Taiyuan during the winter, police officers must ensure residents comply with the ban.
In a two-day campaign earlier this month, Taiyuan police persuaded around six dozen families to drop the tradition. One person was detained.
“Centuries-old customs must change with time, particularly since fireworks have exacerbated smog and disturbed the environment,” said Chang Sixin, deputy director of the China Folk Literature and Art Association.
“Before the New Year, we will continue to patrol on popular days for wedding ceremonies and prevent fireworks from polluting the air,” Li said.
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