Chinese New Years in Beijing was new for me. Fireworks started sporadically while I was at the office yesterday, but really got started Sat, which is Chinese New Years Eve. By afternoon it was every 10 minutes or so, a new round of explosions. By early evening it was every minute. By 9pm it was a constant barrage. By midnight I could see continuous fireworks in the distance from our 23rd floor living room window, and the buildings across the way were lit by constant flashes. No silence - it sounds like a fleet of 1,000 airplanes are flying overhead. There are literally so many fireworks going off that they form a loud and constant hum. I went to bed after 1am, only slight let up.Does a firecracker make a sound if there is no one to hear it?
New years is probably the point when the fewest people are in Beijing (maybe there are fewer for National Day, so maybe this is #2). So the stragglers and waiguoren are lucky, though I will ask around to see if the smaller towns had similar spectacles. Next morning Sporadic bursts, but quiet for most part. Noticed streets which last night were covered with spent firecracker shells were clean. The mayhem last night was obviously sanctioned by the Party, as there were a few jingcha in cars watching, but nothing more. Due to slow Internet, I was unable to upload a video which showed fireworks going off right next to a next-door building - embers and all bouncing off the building tiles. So much for firecodes.
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