Because of stringent rules put in place by Shanghai on the purchase and lighting up of fireworks for the Spring Festival, vendors are expecting weak sales. But it is not just tighter rules that would cause the drop in sales but also a reduction in the number of shops authorized to sell fireworks.
Shanghai Television Station reported that in previous years, sales of fireworks reached about 3 million yuan ($456,073). However, for the 2016 Lunar New Year celebration, the vendors expect total sales to plummet to less than 1 million yuan, disclosed Su Lixin, a licensed fireworks shop owner in Jiading District.
Su is one of the 84 who were given license to sell, down from the previous year’s 698. Shanghai authorities, besides cutting the number of licenses granted, also mandated the stores to have workers trained in fire safety.
On the side of the buyers, they would be required to show identification card, according to Zhang, a fire official of the city. In turn, consumers are given the additional assurance of quality fireworks since the packages would have QR codes that they could scan.
But they could only light the fireworks outside the Outer Ring Road. Residents with unused fireworks after Feb. 8 are encouraged to bring it to the city’s 164 recycling centers.
Meanwhile, Chinese travelers in Guangzhou rushing to reach home before Feb. 8 have bad weather to blame for the delay in their trips. About 100,000 rail passengers are stranded at a train station in the southern province on Monday because of the delay of at least 23 trains, reported The Guardian.