ban – Beijing Kids

Silent Night as Beijing Fireworks Ban Bites

Andrew Killeen — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 02:00:13 +0000

Chinese New Year 2018 will be remembered as Beijing’s quietest, perhaps for centuries, as the fireworks ban silenced the city center.

Prior to the night itself there had been speculation on social media that the ban would simply be ignored. However with fireworks shops having been ordered to close by the police, and the usual pop-up stalls not popping up, even getting hold of fireworks was a challenge. Sales were reported to be down over 80 percent, and 14,000 boxes of illegal fireworks were confiscated.

These efforts appear to have been successful, with beijingkids’ downtown reporters not hearing a single bang. The unusual quiet attracted international attention: the Jakarta Post reported it as “Beijing Bans Fireworks, Evil Spirits Rejoice”. Fireworks are traditionally believed to scare away a monster called Nian, although; as my children pointed out, since he’s scared of loud noises and the color red, he’s not exactly the most intimidating monster they’ve ever heard of.

The ban was part of a package of measures aimed at improving the city’s air quality, and they seem to have been successful so far, with 2017 being the best year for air quality in Beijing since records began in 2013. There is no reason to believe that the ban will be eased in future years.

Beyond the fifth ring road, though, it was pyrotechnic business as usual. In Shunyi there were impromptu displays on every street corner, with a particularly spectacular show on Anhua Dajie, outside the International School of Beijing (ISB).

Photo: Bridget Colla via Flickr

Less Bang for the Mustang: Beijing Fireworks Sales Down 38 Percent

Fri, 07 Feb 2014 08:00:00 +0000

Seem quiet this holiday season? Clearly the bang and boom of previous Spring Festival celebrations is a bit tamer this year, as almost 38 percent fewer fireworks have been sold for the Year of the Horse, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.

The dip has been attributed both to an economic slowdown, but also to city government efforts to control the use of fireworks to rein in air pollution in the capital. Our friends at Shanghaiist did a story a few days ago about 41 tons of fireworks trash produced by all the festivities, but that link is broken now. Still, that sounds like a lot of trash we don’t really need, holiday or not.

The good news is that fireworks-related injuries also seem to be down, by 34.5 percent this year. "There were no reports of deaths or loss of eyes," Xinhua said. Well, that’s good. "Local police received 7.4 percent fewer reports of fires caused by fireworks than a year ago," Xinhua reported. We’re not sure if that means that a relatively small number of fires dipped even more, albeit slightly, or if there are still quite a few fires even though fireworks sales were down significantly.

Beijing Boyce and Grape Wall of China founder and the Beijinger local beer, wine, and spirits contributor Jim "Beijing" Boyce harkened back to 2007 as "arguably the best Chinese New Year fireworks [video] of the past 5,000 years." The Olympics are past now, and so is the tidal swell of fireworks, it seems.

This post first appeared on theBeijinger website on February 7, 2014.

Photo courtesy of Anthony Wang (Flickr)

Beijing Bans Sale of Knives in Supermarkets After Latest Stabbings

Nimo_Wanjau — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 10:05:00 +0000

The Beijing police have ordered a ban on the sale of knives in supermarkets after two separate knife attacks occurred in the last week. The attacks left a total of three people dead and another three injured, reports the Southern China Morning Post via BeijingTimes(Chinese).

The last knife ban in the capital was in October 2009 during China’s celebration of 60 years of founding the People’s Republic. However, in January 2012, customers were required to register their purchase of knives for unknown reasons by the city authorities. This latest ban follows a crackdown on illegal weapons that resulted in 1,123 knives and 327 guns being seized.

The SCMP article notes the ridicule by Chinese citizens online:

Netizens have already ridiculed the move as ineffectual. "I can understand the police departments’ concerns," social commentator Yao Bo wrote in a SinaWeibo post. "But what if someone goes into a supermarket and kills someone with a Durian?

The order comes after a Beijing local surnamed Wang stabbed four people outside the Maliandao Carrefour after supposedly buying a knife from the supermarket. One of the people died and a 2-year-old boy was still in critical condition at the Beijing Children’s hospital. Just a few days before, there was a stabbing at Chaoyang Joy City Mall which resulted in the deaths of one Chinese person and one American citizen.

Photo courtesy of wikimedia commons.