I still recall that the overwhelming impression I had on that night in Taiwan some thirty years ago was that the city was under some sort of artillery barrage—though, fortunately, much less destructive. The sound and the smoke from all the fireworks and firecrackers were quite tremendous, and it still seems that way. However, a few years ago I discovered that my somewhat facetious metaphor was in fact quite close to reality for a student from Sierra Leone that I met in Beijing. He told me that he didn’t like the fireworks during Chinese New Year because they reminded him of the sound of real gunfire during a horrific civil war in his own country. After hearing this, I could certainly understand why he might not be inclined to associate the sound of fireworks with a celebration!
The traditional explanation for this pyrotechnic exuberance (as I recall) is that is a way of frightening off evil spirits, thus assuring good fortune in the new year. However, it is hard for me not to suggest cynically that it is a reflection of an obvious reality about China—China tends to be rather noisy! Given how crowded the country is (in many parts), that should not be surprising, but it also seems that many Chinese tend to be rather loud and to have a high tolerance for noise. The stereotypical figure of the man talking loudly on his cell phone on the bus or subway is not that uncommon, and Chinese restaurants can be quite noisy places.
As for evidence of Chinese people’s tolerance for noise, I can cite an example from the university in Beijing where I teach. Several years ago, the university was building a new library (and office building) across the street from our apartment building. On many nights until the foundation was fully finished, cement mixers would arrive on campus and proceed to mix cement late at night, next to our building. Needless to say, the sound was quite tremendous and made it quite difficult to sleep. We were paid “compensation” for the noise that amounted to around ten dollars (!) a month, but to the best of my knowledge, nobody ever complained about the noise. Apparently, most Chinese take such things in stride, or perhaps they are fatalistic about it because they realize they can’t threaten “city hall” very easily, unlike in the U.S. All I can say is that we were quite relieved when this phase of the construction process came to an end!
Nevertheless, for all the noise, Chunjie is certainly interesting as a reflection of traditional Chinese culture, which, while still existing, seems to have less impact than in the past on the Chinese, at least those living in cities. Thus, in the midst of China’s modernization and the cultural homogenization brought by globalization, it is a reminder of what makes China unique. Happy Year of the Snake (hmm...)!