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Kinling Lo

Extra patrols by Shanghai police on Lunar New Year’s Eve last Friday ensured residents followed the city’s strict ban on the use of fireworks and firecrackers for a second year, mainland media reported.
The nation’s biggest metropolis introduced an all-year ban on their use within the Outer Ring Road before last year’s national holiday to help avoid accidents and reduce air pollution levels.
Chinese people traditionally believe that setting off fireworks and firecrackers – particularly over the annual holiday – helps to “scare” away evil spirits and bad luck and celebrate special occasions.
Overnight patrols – from 4pm on Lunar New Year’s Eve until 8am the next day – by police and firemen ensured there were no reports of injuries or pyrotechnics being set off illegally, the news website Thepaper.cn said.
Shanghai to curtail Chinese New Year celebrations after deadly stampede
Police and fire brigade officials are responsible for carrying out regular firework inspections and imposing the ban on firecrackers.
Celebrations involving the use of fireworks outside the Outer Ring Road, where the ban does not apply, were also down by 80.7 per cent compared with previous years, the report said.
“Many people proactively took the fireworks and firecrackers that they had kept from previous years to the police station to turn them in before the new year,” Shanghai police spokesman Feng He said in the report.
Patrols by police and 300,000 civilian volunteers over the week-long holiday period had meant more people were aware of the ban and the dangers associated with letting off fireworks and firecrackers in public places, Feng said.
Hazardous smog could choke Beijing as residents celebrate Lunar New Year with fireworks
The ban came into effect in January 2016 to reduce the risk of accidents linked to fireworks and also reduce the regular problem of air pollution caused by firecrackers being set off during the holiday.
The report said the level of PM2.5 – the finest pollutant particles in smog that are smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter that can cause the greatest harm to public health – last Friday night in Shanghai was found to be at a safe level of 16 micrograms per cubic metre in the city.
The World Health Organisation’s recommended safe level for PM2.5 is 25 micrograms.


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Extra Shanghai police patrols help enforce Lunar New Year firework and firecracker ban

Police and volunteers carry out a patrol during the night of Lunar New Year’s Eve to impose the ban on the use of fireworks inside Shanghai’s Outer Ring Road. Photo: Thepaper.cn

Smoke rises as a man lights fireworks on a street in Beijing on February 7, 2016, the eve of the Lunar New Year. China marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Monkey, on February 8. / AFP / FRED DUFOUR

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China

People & Culture

All-year ban on use of pyrotechnics within Outer Ring Road introduced before 2016 national holiday to reduce accidents and air pollution levels


China pollution

Extra Shanghai police patrols help enforce Lunar New Year firework and firecracker ban

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}All-year ban on use of pyrotechnics within Outer Ring Road introduced before 2016 national holiday to reduce accidents and air pollution levels

All-year ban on use of pyrotechnics within Outer Ring Road introduced before 2016 national holiday to reduce accidents and air pollution levels