# Playing with Dangerous Firecrackers -  My Hong Kong Childhood Years Ago



## John S Cheung (Feb 22, 2011)

Around Chinese New Year, children had the custom of burning firecrackers very much for the festive excitement of the loud noise.  Businessmen would treat these firecrackers more seriously.  Some would pay to fire long strings of them accompanied by noisy lion dancing to bring them luck and prosperity for the New Year. 

We had to be careful especially with the bigger crackers.  The blast can cause injuries especially to the eyes and fingers.   A safer way is to stand them on the ground, light the short fuse on top usually with a smothering joss stick, and back away.   But often for more excitement, we would hold individual cracker, light the cracker's fuse with the joss stick, and throw it away before it blasts off.     

And being typical boys living in the upper floors, we would sometimes throw the crackers down to the street below where in this crowded city, there would very likely be people including women and children walking along the pavements.

What we did is frightening to others.  But the attitude at that time was that we would also receive the same treatment when we had to walk along the streets.  Traditionally Chinese New Year is the period when we would wear new clothes to go visiting our relatives to offer our well wishes for the New Year.  Thus we would also very likely be out on the streets visiting.  

I remember we had to be extra careful visiting a very old and senior relative.  She lived on a street where residents, some adults, enjoy throwing down many big firecrackers.   We had to walk through this street as fast as we could, like going through a war zone.  

During this period, we also played with fire-arrows.   They are like a firecracker with a stick at the fuse end.  When the fire from a burning fuse spreads to the gunpowder inside, instead of exploding, the fire ejects at the fuse end propelling the cracker  forward like a tiny rocket.   

Sometimes in my naughty childhood mood, I would aim to fire these fire-arrows at the balcony of my classmate who lived opposite.   It would be bad if the fire-arrow got into the house and damage say the curtain or sofa.   

There had been reports of accidental injuries due to these firecrackers and bigger fireworks.   In subsequent years, I think since the early 1960s when there were protest riots in neighbouring China, the burning and selling of these was banned in Hong Kong.  This was not only to stop the above unsafe practice.   It was also for internal security reason, to avoid people getting hold of gunpowder inside these firecrackers and fireworks to make small bombs.


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## The Blue Pencil (Feb 22, 2011)

I don't care about the grammar or the quality of the writing, I just have to say that this is excellent.
Your writing sounds so Chinese that the issues with English make the story seem all the better. You captured experiences as a child in Hong Kong. This story brought me into your world. Thank you for allowing me to take a peek into your childhood. I only wish I could convey experiences as well as you.


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## ClosetWriter (Feb 23, 2011)

I agree with Blue Pencil. I love the simple and unassuming way you write. 

S*ide note:* As young boys, here in Michigan, we went as far as aiming them at each other, and then shooting them off. I guess it goes to show -- boys will be boys. 
By the way -- we called them bottle rockets.


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## The Backward OX (Feb 24, 2011)

The Blue Pencil said:


> I don't care about the grammar or the quality of the writing, I just have to say that this is excellent.


 
What do you mean, you don't care about the grammar or the quality of the writing? Are you implying there is something wrong with the grammar or the quality of the writing? Looks alright to me.


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## Olly Buckle (Feb 24, 2011)

There is some mixing of past and present tenses,
What we did is frightening to others
She lived on a street where residents enjoy throwing down many big firecrackers.
the fire-arrow got into the house and damage

There is also a tendency to leave out commas at the beginning and/or end of sub clauses.

It is good seeing this sort of thing written down before the memories get lost. I would love to hear about the more hum-drum aspects of every day life as well, what did you eat and what was it cooked on? How was laundry done? What forms of transport did you use? I suspect many of these things, as well as special events like New Year, were done in ways completely outside the experience of people growing up on the other side of the world or in a different age.


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## Ditch (Feb 24, 2011)

You have led a very interesting life John, growing up when and where you did. I enjoy reading about your childhood.


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## The Blue Pencil (Feb 24, 2011)

The Backward OX said:


> What do you mean, you don't care about the grammar or the quality of the writing? Are you implying there is something wrong with the grammar or the quality of the writing? Looks alright to me.


See Olly's reply, it explains all of the grammar issues.


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## John S Cheung (Feb 24, 2011)

.
Thanks BluePencil, ClosetWriter, BlackwardOx, OllyBuckle and Ditch.   

And thanks to OllyBuckle for the grammatical corrections.


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## MarkII (Mar 16, 2011)

A very nice article, especially so as it is about where I live but something I could have never experienced. By the time I was born firecrackers and alike had been banned altogether - I was born in Hong Kong in the 1970s. Though later the aboriginal villagers living in the countryside still held on to the tradition together with such monkey business that often goes hand in hand with youth, urban kids like I was were not lucky enough to enjoy the fun in throwing firecrackers at unsuspecting people on the street.


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## John S Cheung (Mar 20, 2011)

Welcome MarkII.  Glad to meet somebody else from Hong Kong in this forum.  哈哈。

About firecrackers, I understand in the Philippines they like to fire them to make noise to celebrate the New Year (not the lunar new year). Strictly speaking they are officially banned because of too many injuries.  But often the police close a blind eyes.


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## MarkII (Mar 21, 2011)

Nice to see you here too.

By the way, it should be "turn a blind eye" instead, not close, and not eyes in plural.


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## Desertrose (Mar 23, 2011)

This takes me back to my own childhood.  (thank you)  I remember the smell of those firecrackers, especially the next morning when for some reason it was a thrill to go searching to see how many crackers had made their way into our backyard.


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## John S Cheung (Apr 5, 2011)

Desertrose said:


> This takes me back to my own childhood.  (thank you)


Where were you brought up?


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