Festive firecrackers

That almost all cities that once banned firecrackers have made the annual Spring Festival an exception reveals how indispensable firecrackers are to the Chinese celebration.

We as a nation love firecrackers. A lunar new year holiday devoid of the spark of firecrackers would be insipid and incomplete. And as people's pockets bulge, more is being spent on firecrackers. The happier we are, the more fireworks we set off. There seems to be no substitute for these lunar new year explosives.

But as people return to work from their weeklong holiday, the same old questions surrounding firecrackers have resurfaced.