Another upsurge

After a couple of days of comparative lull in firework activity, yesterday things went crazy again. There was a fairly significant amount of rat-tat-tat-boom-crash from quite early in the morning, and after nightfall it soon became apocalyptic - possibly even more extreme than Sunday, in that it went on steadily for hours, rather than being concentrated in one great cathartic outpouring around midnight.

There were so many people letting off huge strings of firecrackers on the sides of the streets yesterday evening that the sidewalks were virtually impassable. Time and again you'd find your progress halted by another burst of explosions, and have to wait until your path ahead was "safe" again (some of these longer strings take upwards of a minute to do their thing). Impatience led me to take a few too many chances, scurrying past strings that were not quite finished. I got hit in the side of the head by a large, burning firecracker casing - that I thought for a moment had set fire to my hair. I wasn't being that reckless: I was passing by on the road, a good 7 or 8 ft away, and shielding my eyes. It's really not safe out there.

I gather Day 5 of the first lunar month is considered to be the birthday of Tsai Shin Yeh, the God of Wealth (that's a Cantonese spelling; I haven't been able to find out what they call him up here). Thus, the intensification of firework activity on this day is intended to honour the god and ensure his goodwill during the coming the year - perhaps particularly important in these days of meltdown!