Smog stirs firecracker debate

INTRO

Smog is continuing to choke China - from east, to west, leading policymakers to get to work on pollution solutions.

Ideas include new ways of cutting car emissions and cleaning up heavily polluting factories.

But

regarding the use of smoky firecrackers - a tradition during Chinese Lunar New Year just weeks away - policy makers are letting the public have their say

...

As a significant part of China's biggest annual holiday, firecrackers are often set off in the streets and in Hutongs... To ward off evil spirits.

But the festive fireworks also cause dense clouds of smoke, that have been the subject of complaints for many years.

Official figures showed PM 2.5 readings exceeded 200 micrograms per cubic meter during last year's Spring Festival, largely due to firecrackers.

Readings of PM 2.5 - hazardous, lung penetrating particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter - are now being used by the government to determine air quality.

And a reading of 200 per cubic meter, means serious pollution...

But lingering smog shrouding the country in recent days has exceeded and, at times, even doubled this...

Sparking new debate, over environmental protection.

SOUNDBITE: BEIJING CITIZEN

"I wear a mask when going outside, just to feel safer."

SOUNDBITE: BEIJING CITIZEN

"The number of patients with respiratory symptoms has surged due to the smog. We haven't seen the sun shine for a long time. The air is filthy."

SOUNDBITE: BEIJING CITIZEN

"It's particularly uncomfortable. You can almost taste the smog. When it's like this, I don't want to go outside.

On Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, nearly 40,000 posts over the last 24 hours have discussed reducing the use of fireworks during Spring Festival.

Some 2,000 bloggers said they'll set off fewer firecrackers this year, for the sake of saving the air.

And in an online poll by the People's Daily, the Communist Party of China's flagship newspaper, nearly 70 percent of respondents said they won't set off any fireworks, at all.

Others argue an arbitrary ban on the New Year tradition, will dampen the holiday spirit further...But discussions are still going on.

Besides sending up more smog, many firecracker critics say the fires and injuries caused by badly-made fireworks, are an increasing risk too.

According to Beijing regulators say Beijingers bought fewer firecrackers in recent years... After the city began regulating fireworks in 1987.

During last year's festival, the city banned firecrackers in 64,000 areas and set a schedule for when fireworks, were allowed...

While manufacturers, have begun creating "cleaner" fireworks, with better technology.

In the hope that this ancient tradition can still have a place in modern Chinese society - and it's increasingly fragile environment.