Fireworks ban fails in most big cities

WHILE the police managed to successfully enforce the Lunar New Year firework ban in Beijing last week, it was business as usual in just about every other major city.

Although fireworks had been banned in 23 major cities, only the capital, which deployed thousands of extra police officers to patrol the streets, managed to crackdown on the traditional new year celebrations.

In China's largest city, Shanghai, residents said there were probably more fireworks than last year with some people spending more than 10,000 yuan (about HK$8,880) on explosives.

''It was like a war zone out there at midnight, the whole city was lit up,'' said one resident who watched the festivities.

Shanghai police had been ordered to arrest anyone letting off firecrackers but very few officers took their orders seriously.

''You could have let a firecracker off right in front of a policeman and he would not have done anything,'' one resident said.