Schell of a Man

I remember as a child watching fireworks and thinking I could never get tired of them. I recall the tension of watching on the Fourth of July and not wanting the display to end. Thinking (and probably asking) “is this the finale?” every time more than one firework went off at a time. I also remember when I first realized there was such an experience as too much of a good thing. It was in Duluth at a 4th of July concert/firework show. It must have lasted 20 minutes (with many of the fireworks hidden behind the stage). It was when I first realized that the excitement couldn’t last, even if the show did. Thinking back to that now, I realize that it was preparation for living in China.

Last Sunday was Chinese New Year’s Eve, and for nearly four hours before and after midnight the sky all over Ningbo exploded and crackled. I stood at my apartment window with three other friends and rang in the New Year. It was amazing to watch and listen to the whole city celebrate. From the large fireworks being set off in the parking lot in front of my house, to my neighbors shooting roman candles out their window at the adjacent hotel, to the other large displays taking in the distance, it was all out pandemonium. Huge rolls of blackcat firecrackers over 1.5 feet in diameter sparked and jumped on the sidewalks for what seemed like hours. Traditionally the practice of lighting fireworks is preformed to ward off the evil spirits and ghosts, and keep them from making trouble for you in the coming year.

The lesson from childhood, however, remained true. It is now four days past New Year’s Eve and the fireworks have barely ceased (though the intensity has lessened). You can get sick, oh so sick, of fireworks. I am currently sitting in my apartment at one in the morning on a Thursday night listening to the echoes of distant fireworks. And this is only the relative beginning. Spring Festival, marked at the beginning by the Chinese New Year and at the end by the Lantern Festival, is two weeks of celebration filled with family, food and of course exploding gunpowder. Perhaps I should be more desensitized to them since fireworks are routinely set off for weddings, funerals, births, shop openings or any other occasion worth noting. (I used to do a one roman candle send off for friends from the US when they left). Yet I still get sick of them every year around this time.

I think what’s worse than the constant fireworks is the five minutes of car and bike alarms that follow any large display. (Yes, many of the electric bikes have alarms on them. I have no idea why since they are so easily set off and no one pays any attention to the alarms anyway. I am particularly un-fond of them as they are the music I wake up to every morning). Since the city doesn’t (as far as I know) put on an official firework display, the job is taken care of by regular citizens, setting off the fireworks generally right outside their apartment buildings. Sparks often bounce off buildings and rain down on the streets. The concussion from the explosions sets off all the alarms. I think car alarms and fireworks will be forever associated in my mind.

I would like know how much is spent each year in China on fireworks. Their relative cost of is much lower than in America but the quantity is huge. Besides the giant rolls of blackcats and other smaller firecrackers, the big sellers are the larger firework sets. These are boxes with nine, sixteen or twenty medium to large rockets. Each box has a single fuse that when lit will set off the rockets one at a time. I haven’t ever purchased any large rockets but have been told that the larger boxes run for $200 to $300 each. Perhaps I’ll have to make an investment before the holiday is over.

Well, there seems to be a break in the action so I am going to try to fall asleep before the next volley begins. Happy New Year and best wishes to all in the year of the Ox! Gong Xi Fa Cai and Xin Nian Kuai le(恭喜发财和新年快乐!)