第2065期:Ahead of Lunar New Year, Chinese Debate Fireworks Ban

Chinese lawmakers recently entered a fierce online debate on whether fireworks should be used to celebrate the Lunar New year this February. They said a total ban on fireworks in the country credited with inventing the noisemakers would be hard to enforce. 中国立法者最近在网上就今年二月是否应该使用烟花爆竹庆祝农历新年展开了激烈的辩论。 他们表示，在这个被认为发明了噪音发生器的国家全面禁止燃放烟花爆竹将很难执行。 Lawmakers said air pollution prevention and fire safety laws have led to "differences in understanding" of the ban on fireworks. However, it was never a total ban. 议员们表示，空气污染防治和消防安全法导致了对烟花禁令的“理解上的分歧”。 然而，这从来都不是全面禁止。 In 2017, official data showed 444 cities had banned fireworks. Since then, some of the cities have loosened the bans. They permit fireworks at certain times of the year and at special places.2017年，官方数据显示444个城市禁止燃放烟花爆竹。 此后，一些城市放松了禁令。 他们允许在一年中的某些时间和特殊地点燃放烟花。 This month, however, many counties made announcements banning fireworks, restarting discussion on the ban. 然而本月，多县发布禁放烟花爆竹的公告，重启有关禁放烟花爆竹的讨论。 "We've the right to fireworks," wrote a user of Weibo, a popular Chinese online discussion service. “我们有放烟花的权利，”中国流行的在线讨论服务微博的一位用户写道。Chinese folklore says the earliest fireworks were invented 2,000 years ago to drive away the "nian.” The nian, the story goes, was a monster that hunted people and animals before the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival. 中国民间传说，最早的烟花是在2000年前发明的，目的是驱走“年”。 传说中的“年”是一种在农历新年或春节前猎杀人和动物的怪物。Since then, fireworks came to be used to celebrate other events. This January, after three years of COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, some people ignored bans - and officials - and set off firecrackers. 从那时起，烟花开始被用来庆祝其他活动。 今年一月，在解除了三年的 COVID-19 限制后，一些人无视禁令和官员，燃放鞭炮。 Some Chinese say the fireworks bans were necessary to protect the environment. 一些中国人表示，为了保护环境，禁止燃放烟花爆竹是必要的。 An online opinion study by the official Beijing Youth Daily found that over 80 percent of people supported fireworks during Spring Festival. The festival is the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar. 官方《北京青年报》的一项在线民意调查发现，超过80%的人支持春节期间燃放烟花爆竹。 这个节日是中国历法上最重要的节日。 Some also said the ban was ironic after the United Nations recently named the Spring Festival an official holiday, a move supported by Chinese officials. 一些人还表示，联合国最近将春节定为法定假日，此举得到了中国官员的支持，这一禁令具有讽刺意味。 "The Spring Festival belongs to the world, but China's is almost gone," wrote another Weibo user. 另一位微博用户写道：“春节是全世界的，但中国的已经快没了。” Southern Hunan province is a worldwide supplier of fireworks. Its exports totaled $579 million from January to November, state media reported. That number is far greater than domestic sales. 湘南省是世界烟花爆竹的产地。 据官方媒体报道，今年 1 月至 11 月，其出口总额为 5.79 亿美元。 这个数字远远大于国内销量。