The annual Lunar New Year fireworks barrage in Beijing was notably muted following government appeals to reduce the smoky celebrations after air pollution rose to near catastrophic levels over recent weeks.
The holiday was also being celebrated in Vietnamese and Korean communities, and in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, streams of residents offered flowers and bowed deeply before giant statues of national founder Kim Il Sung and his son and late leader Kim Jong Il.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, where Chinese cultural observances had been suppressed before 1998, ethnic Chinese flocked to the city’s oldest temple Sunday to pray for health and success.
China’s capital saw almost twice the number of smoggy days as usual in January, with levels of small particle air pollution going off the charts at times. That prompted calls for restraint, along with a reduction in the number of licensed fireworks sellers and the amount of fireworks on sale.
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Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/t4c6VkJud3E/
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