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 organized the sale of 600,000 boxes
of firecrackers valued at more than 100 million yuan (US$12.5
million) 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 AM 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 January 29.
(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2006)