When we moved to Beijing in 2008, people warned us to get out of the city for Chinese New Year. Take a trip to a beach; go home; anything but stay in the capital. Why? Because of the all fireworks. Despite the dire warnings of endless fireworks for 15 days, we decided to stay put. Personally, I was intrigued. All but the simplest fireworks are banned in my hometown and firecrackers were illegal when I was growing up there. So the notion that I could buy rockets or that the neighborhood would be filled with them sounded great.

Beijing did not disappoint. For two weeks, every night they could be seen across the city, but on New Year’s Eve, Day 5, and the final night, being outside was akin to walking through World War III. I loved it. Having half the population out of town and the reduced traffic was merely a bonus.

In recent years, the effort to clean up Beijng’s air quality has drastically reduced the amount of fireworks being used to ward off evil spirits and ring in the new year. Once again, we stayed in Beijing and although the New Year’s Eve display was impressive on the run up to midnight, and day 5 provided a fair amount of show, the rest of the holiday was largely quiet in our neighborhood and the second week has been all but silent. Even my Chinese friends were telling me they didn’t bother buying fireworks this year because of their concerns for the air pollution.

Basically, I think this squashes the argument for leaving town because of all the noise and pollution. Beijing is pleasant during the holiday. Sure, some restaurants are closed and it is a good idea to call ahead before venturing out to some venues, but plenty stays open and traffic is never lighter. Next year, you might even find yourselves, as we did, seated in a restaurant with a view where the kids can “oh and ah” at the fireworks while they await their dinner. That is, unless the fireworks get banned altogether.

Photo: Storyvillegirl (Flickr)

On the week of Chinese New Year and in the days to follow, expect to hear firecrackers go off well into the middle of the night. No, your fortress is not being attacked, although it certainly sounds that way. Coming from a long line of tradition, the loud bangs from firecrackers are thought to fend off evil spirits and ghosts. Although, the noise will probably be more successful at frightening the uninitiated than warding off bad luck. If this is your first time spending Chinese New Year in China, brace yourself for a week of uneasy living.

Fireworks remain a contentious issue in the Capital. Efforts were made in the past to ban fireworks, but most attempts have been relatively short term. Although now with the monitoring of air pollution levels there is a chance there will be no fireworks being set off if the days reported are either orange or red, find out more here. In 1988, the National People’s congress restricted the production and display of fireworks. In 1993, the Beijing government went further, by banning fireworks altogether. Due to the public outcry and continued disregard for the fireworks ban, it was officially lifted on September 9, 2005.

So if you intend on purchasing or partaking in any events where sparklers and fireworks will be present, keep some of these basic tips in mind (even if it seems like you’re the only one following them!)

Basic tips:
– Hold sparklers at an arm’s length away. After the flame goes out, put it in water. Many trash cans have been burned, due to misplacing of sparklers
– Never go near a firework that has been lit.
– Only allow adults to handle fireworks.

For a more intensive guide to how to handle mini explosions with care, check out the ehow website, where ”Joe,” a fire captain, will give demonstrations on how to handle sparklers and fireworks safely.

This post has been slightly modified with the latest development in regards to fireworks. It first appeared here on February 10, 2010. 

Photo courtesy of anthony wang (flickr).

Babies are great, but they don’t do much in the way of formal performing. Yes, they are fun to watch and, thanks to camera phones and tablets, parents have way too much video to share with you (don’t look at me, I’m a photographer). To truly get the kids on stage for parental bragging rights, you really need to water and nurture your little ones until their tiny fingers can finally do something useful, like play the piano in the case of our daughter. We settled on the piano after discarding all possible instruments that sound dreadful in the hands of little kids, i.e. recorders, violins, accordions, trumpets, drums, etc. Honestly, even the piano can test Baba’s ears were it not for the headphones. No, not noise cancelling headphones, the ones that can be plugged into our electric piano. I think you get the idea.

After months of taking lessons three times a week, news came down from our daughter of a pending piano and singing recital (she takes singing lessons too). This announcement caused me to reminisce about my own recital days as a child. I can still recall sitting in the front row with the other children as we patiently waited for our turns at the grand piano on the stage. No doubt we were fidgeting with boredom the entire time, but stayed put we kids did. As for the parents, they listened to each child’s performance and eagerly waited their own kid’s turn on the ivory. No doubt many of them were fidgeting with boredom too, but listen they did.

All of this was vaguely in the back of my mind as we entered the large music store in midtown Wangjing. There, in the back, was a theater with the requisite grand piano tuned to perfection (unlike those at my daughter’s piano school). Arriving late (twins!), I could see a girl dressed to the nines running her fingers along the keys. Unfortunately, standing outside the door of the small theater, it was difficult to hear her well-practiced performance due to the chaos in the audience. I didn’t expect silence, but the level of mayhem was disappointing. Children milled about the room, at times playing with the balloons on stage. There was a general inability of any two adults seated or standing near one another to shut-up for two minutes and listen to a single performance. Parents even talked while their own children performed and, if not, they were busy with their mobile devices.

Of course, all of this can be filed under cultural differences, but it did give me pause. Why would anyone expect a movie theater to be quiet in Beijing when parents cannot even sit still for live performances? Sure, the performers were kids and probably didn’t really mind either way, but the underlying message being taught to them was that when someone is on stage, it doesn’t matter what the audience does. It doesn’t matter that someone practiced for hours for her two minutes on stage; you owe her no respect, no attention, and no applause. It may not be politically correct to say so, but sometimes the culture of a group is wrong and needs to change.

In the end, our daughter carried out her brief piano solo and singing duet like a seasoned pro. I’m sure she outshined my childhood performances, but to be sure I recorded both so I could share the memory with her grandparents. No doubt the next time I see you, I’ll share both videos with you, along with some hilarious hijinks from our twin boys.

Photo courtesy of Christopher Lay