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Beijing to start sale of firecrackers after 12 years' ban
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-01-19 19:28
Beijing has issued 2,116 stores permits to sell firecrackers so that,
starting Sunday, residents can buy quality firecrackers to celebrate the
upcoming Spring Festival.
To ensure public safety, people are required to buy approved fireworks at
sanctioned stores and to use them responsibly, according to a circular from the
municipal administration office of fireworks and firecrackers on Wednesday.
In September last year, Beijing lifted a 12-year ban on firecrackers during
the traditional Spring Festival, China's Lunar New Year, in response to people's
love for a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation.
The Beijing government has organised the sale of 600,000 boxes of
firecrackers valued at more than 100 million yuan (12.5 million U.S. dollars)
for its citizens, said Tang Yunli, an officer with Beijing Public Security
Bureau.
Authorities will keep a close eye on the sale of firecrackers to ensure the
city does not run out of firecrackers during the holiday season, according to
Tang.
Beijingers are allowed to set off firecrackers in areas within the Fifth Ring
Road on Lunar New Year's Eve and all day of the first day of the new year, and
from 7 a.m. to zero hour everyday from the second to the 15th day of the Lunar
New Year, a major Chinese festival and traditionally a time of family reunions.
The 2006 Spring Festival falls on Jan. 29.
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