ammo dump

this year, Beijing residents would be allowed to let off fire-crackers and fireworks within the city limits (but within designated timing) during the CNY season. the municipal authorities also designated several hundred official stalls that can sell "officially" sanctioned (and over-priced) fireworks.these are not hampers, but nicely packaged "ammo". roman candles, ammo belts of fire-crackers and bunches of "rockets". not like the miserly individual fire-crackers that I let off during my childhood days. the bigger boxes the size of biscuit tins are packed with sequences of fireworks that are comparable to NDP style displays, just smaller in scale. It seems that in China they believe in over-kill! come CNY eve, Beijing's night sky would be like Bagdhad during Gulf War I. in Taipei, many entrepreneurs in their pick-up trucks will sell you all the ammo you need anytime and anywhere you are.

after checking out the prices at the "gahmen" stall, I concluded that it was vastly over-priced. RMB45 for just one box! I will just pass RMB200 (about S$40) to my driver to fill up the boot of the car with "ammo" from the countryside...