Fireworks

So I almost forgot about this aspect of living in China until last night when a neighbor set off fireworks right outside my window that were so loud I was sure someone was shooting off fully automatic weapons outside. They also gave off a ridiculous amount of smoke. In China, you hear fireworks go off about every 2-3 hours-seriously. Fireworks are set off to celebrate moving in somewhere, moving out of somewhere, getting a new job, having a baby, being happy, the night beginning, the day beginning, it being 9 o'clock, etc. My college sets off fireworks at 9pm every night just for fun. The college next door sets off fireworks at 11pm every night. The college across the street sets off fireworks every morning at 6 am!!! And this doesn't include all the students and residents that set off their personal fireworks. I almost don't notice it anymore but apparently when Spring Festival takes place-that's part of the Chinese New Year in late January and February, for the entire ~30 days of Spring Festival, everyone will set off fireworks many times per day and night. Oh and fireworks are illegal here because they could start fires, but of course "illegal" is a flexible term which in this case means completely legal.