Chinese lawmakers recently entered a fierce online debate on whether fireworks should be used to celebrate the Lunar New year this February. They said a total ban on fireworks in the country credited with inventing the noisemakers would be hard to enforce.
中国立法者最近加入了网上一场对今年2月是否应该燃放烟花爆竹庆祝农历新年的激烈辩论。他们表示，全面禁止燃放烟花爆竹在一个被认为发明了这种热闹玩意的国家将很难执行。
Lawmakers said air pollution prevention and fire safety laws have led to "differences in understanding" of the ban on fireworks. However, it was never a total ban.
立法者表示，大气污染防治和消防安全法导致了对烟花爆竹禁令的“理解分歧”。然而，它从来都不是一项全面的禁令。
In 2017, official data showed 444 cities had banned fireworks. Since then, some of the cities have loosened the bans. They permit fireworks at certain times of the year and at special places.
官方数据显示，2017年有444个城市禁止燃放烟花爆竹。从那时起，一些城市放松了禁令。他们允许在一年中的特定时间和特殊地点燃放烟花。
This month, however, many counties made announcements banning fireworks, restarting discussion on the ban.
然而，本月许多县宣布禁止燃放烟花爆竹，重新引发了有关禁令的讨论。
"We've the right to fireworks," wrote a user of Weibo, a popular Chinese online discussion service.
“我们有权利燃放烟花，”中国流行的在线讨论网站微博的一位用户写道。
Chinese folklore says the earliest fireworks were invented 2,000 years ago to drive away the "nian." The nian, the story goes, was a monster that hunted people and animals before the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival.
中国民间传说称，最早的烟花是2000年前发明用来驱赶“年兽”。据说，年兽是一种在农历新年或春节前猎杀人和动物的怪物。
Since then, fireworks came to be used to celebrate other events.
从那时起，烟花开始被用来庆祝其他活动。
Some Chinese say the fireworks bans were necessary to protect the environment.
一些中国人说，为了保护环境，禁止燃放烟花爆竹是必要的。
An online opinion study by the official Beijing Youth Daily found that over 80 percent of people supported fireworks during Spring Festival. The festival is the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar.
官方的《北京青年报》在网上进行的一项民意调查发现，超过80%的人支持春节期间燃放烟花爆竹。这个节日是中国日历上最重要的节日。
Some also said the ban was ironic after the United Nations recently named the Spring Festival an official holiday, a move supported by Chinese officials.
一些人还表示，这项禁令颇具讽刺意味，因为联合国最近将春节定为官方节日，这一举措得到了中国官员的支持。
"The Spring Festival belongs to the world, but China's is almost gone," wrote another Weibo user.
另一位微博用户写道：“春节属于世界，但中国的春节（传统）几乎已经消失了。”
Southern Hunan province is a worldwide supplier of fireworks. Its exports totaled $579 million from January to November, state media reported. That number is far greater than domestic sales.
湖南省是世界性的烟花供应商。据官方媒体报道，今年1月到11月，湖南烟花出口总额为5.79亿美元。这个数字远远超过国内销售额。
I'm Dan Novak.
我是丹·诺瓦克。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)