Don't take heart out of world's greatest festival

The recent call to ban pyrotechnics during the Spring Festival break would be taking the fire out of an annual tradition that dates back centuries.

Why curb the very thing that makes the lunar new year in Beijing and across China arguably the world's biggest, best and boldest holiday?

Year after year during the Spring Festival celebrations, newspapers and blogs are bloated with excited tales of the capital's chaotic festivities. It's great publicity for a city that strives to establish itself in the global spotlight.