Beijing has resumed the ban on firecrackers Monday, and those
unsold are being collected and transported outside the city proper,
a local newspaper the Beijing News reported on
Tuesday.
As of this morning, the eight districts in the downtown area
have collected all the residual fireworks in the designated stores
and are removing them to the outskirt storehouses, said sources
with the municipal fireworks affairs office.
During the Spring Festival from Jan. 29 to Feb. 12, Beijing had
600,000 boxes of firecrackers in stock, but only 270,000 boxes were
sold out, according to the statistics by the fireworks affairs
office.
The Beijing Firecrackers and Fireworks Company alone bought
400,000 boxes from other provinces, earning 55 million yuan (US$6.8
million) in sale, said the company sources.
The amount of the burned firecrackers can not be figured out,
but information from the city's public sanitation department shows
about 264 tons of fireworks scraps had been swept out by Monday
morning.
"We will offer some souvenirs, including the 2008 Olympics
mascots Friendlies, for exchange of the residents' unburned
firecrackers in the Dongcheng District," said an official with
thefireworks affairs office.
Last September, Beijing lifted a 12-year ban on fireworks,
allowing residents to set off firecrackers in designated areas
during the Spring Festival and other traditional festivals.
The sale, started on January 22 in the city's 2,116 stores, came
to an end on Monday.
(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2006)