The first time I visited Vancouver I happened to find myself arriving there just as an international firework competition was ending. Three or four of the world's largest firework manufacturers had one evening each to mount an enormous, elaborately choreographed display of about 40 or 50 minutes' duration. I caught the last competitor's show, and it was pretty goddamned awe-inspiring.
However, the festivities, I discovered, were not yet over. The next night, when the winner was announced, all the participating companies were allowed to mount a a short recap of their competition display. They were only allocated about 15 minutes for this, and the expectation of the organisers was clearly that they would put together a 'highlights' show. What in fact happened was that each company basically put on its entire display again at triple speed. It was dazzling. It was deafening. The last display in the series had the disadvantage of being considerably dimmed, indeed almost at times blotted out, by the vast fog of gunpowder smoke that had accumulated over the bay in the preceding hour.
I think that is still the most intense, the most over-the-top hour of firework activity I have ever experienced. But major Chinese cities on the Lunar New Year run it very close. In fact, they must exceed it overall, since the whizz-bangery goes on city-wide rather than in a single location and can continue for several hours.
And the really amazing thing about this phenomenon is that it is NOT an organized show. (When I was in Harbin during Spring Festival last year, it did seem that many large restaurants and department stores around the main shopping street of Zhongyang Dajie were sponsoring small displays of rocketry on the side-streets outside their premises; but that doesn't happen in Beijing.) No, this is entirely the result of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Joes (or Zhous, if you will) blowing a stack of money on fireworks (in some instances, I would guess, getting on for a month's salary - certainly over the whole holiday period, it must get to be a pretty substantial expenditure for many people; and probably nearly half of it goes up in smoke on just the one day, New Year's Eve, and perhaps half or more of that in the hour either side of midnight).
However, the festivities, I discovered, were not yet over. The next night, when the winner was announced, all the participating companies were allowed to mount a a short recap of their competition display. They were only allocated about 15 minutes for this, and the expectation of the organisers was clearly that they would put together a 'highlights' show. What in fact happened was that each company basically put on its entire display again at triple speed. It was dazzling. It was deafening. The last display in the series had the disadvantage of being considerably dimmed, indeed almost at times blotted out, by the vast fog of gunpowder smoke that had accumulated over the bay in the preceding hour.
I think that is still the most intense, the most over-the-top hour of firework activity I have ever experienced. But major Chinese cities on the Lunar New Year run it very close. In fact, they must exceed it overall, since the whizz-bangery goes on city-wide rather than in a single location and can continue for several hours.
And the really amazing thing about this phenomenon is that it is NOT an organized show. (When I was in Harbin during Spring Festival last year, it did seem that many large restaurants and department stores around the main shopping street of Zhongyang Dajie were sponsoring small displays of rocketry on the side-streets outside their premises; but that doesn't happen in Beijing.) No, this is entirely the result of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Joes (or Zhous, if you will) blowing a stack of money on fireworks (in some instances, I would guess, getting on for a month's salary - certainly over the whole holiday period, it must get to be a pretty substantial expenditure for many people; and probably nearly half of it goes up in smoke on just the one day, New Year's Eve, and perhaps half or more of that in the hour either side of midnight).
So, in case you didn't believe me, here's one of the best YouTube clips I could find of the festivities here last Sunday night. I particularly like this one because it's shot over Houhai, the famous lake area near where I live.
This one is quite cool, too; and also this much longer one (if you're really starting to get into it now). And here is one that was shot on Bell Tower Square, where I was (yes, one of those shadowy figures in the crowd must be me; but if I can't spot myself, there's no way you can).
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