Spring Festival Fireworks

In a country where you can get a haircut at 10 at night, it is strange to see all of the little shops closed. I was told that years ago, everything would shut down for a whole month. Fortunately, there were still people on the street selling fireworks. We bought some small fireworks, mostly long strings of firecrackers. Some of these are so loud, I was worried about my hearing. We spent the New Year's eve in our apartment, with some breaks outside for lighting firecrackers, because it was quite cold outside (-10 ˚C) and because we had the best view right from our living room window.

The fireworks started early in the afternoon, and by 3 pm it seemed as if there was a low roar through the whole city, like the noise of a jet taking off, punctuated by some of the closer firecrackers being set off. The din from the fireworks waxed and waned until late in the evening, between 11 and just after midnight, when it seemed like the whole town would explode.

From our apartment windows we could see the larger fireworks over by the skyscrapers along the coast. Although there was never a time when the whole cityscape was engulfed in fireworks, there was a perpetual stream of fireworks going up in various quarters from sunset to well past midnight. After 100 photographs, I discovered that fireworks are difficult to photograph. Fortunately, I had hours to practice.

The lights in the buildings across from us are bright and easy to see -- they are under construction and the facade has not yet been put in place. I could see the lights in these building turning on and off in what appeared to be a light show, until I realized these were the stairwell lights turning on in response to the fireworks. The lights in our own stairwell turn on with noise (not motion like in the States, or a timer button like in Europe).