Beijingers buy less fireworks over pollution concerns

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Beijingers set off less fireworks this year over pollution concerns to celebrate Spring Festival, the most important festival in the Chinese calendar.

The Year of the Rooster began on Saturday.

A fireworks stall in Chaoyang District, Beijing/ CFP Photo

By Friday, the Chinese New Year's Eve, sales of firecrackers and fireworks had decreased 4.9 percent year-on-year, the sixth consecutive year of decline, according to the fireworks office of the municipal government on Saturday.

The city reported 25 fires caused by fireworks on Friday, one incident less than last year.

Beijing has ordered the suspension of fireworks sale in case of serious air pollution alerts.

Compared with the daytime blue sky on Friday, Beijing's air turned noticeably hazy at night due to fireworks displays as locals welcomed the new year.

Due to fireworks and lack of wind, PM2.5 levels reached a high of 647 micrograms per cubic meter at 2 a.m. on Saturday, down 7.6 percent from the same time of the last lunar new year, according to the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center.

"Setting off fireworks and firecrackers surely adds to pollution and creates noises," said a college student surnamed Yu in Beijing's Chaoyang district. His stance is shared by the majority of citizens.

A sanitation worker sweeps firecrackers waste in Beijing on January 28, 2017. /CFP Photo

A recent poll on 1,000 residents in the capital showed 83 percent of interviewees said they would not set off fireworks during the Spring Festival. This was 6.4 percentage points higher than last year.

Setting off fireworks and firecrackers during the Lunar New Year is a Chinese tradition. However, sales of fireworks have dropped in recent years in cities amid pollution concerns and government restrictions.

Nationwide, 444 cities have banned fireworks and 764 others have imposed restrictions on setting off fireworks, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

(Source: Xinhua)