The festivals page says people set off fireworks at new year where permitted. The seasons page offers temple fairs, lanterns and fireworks as the reason to be in one city for the fortnight. Neither says what "where permitted" means, and the answer is not a list of cities. It is a structure.
The national regulation does not ban fireworks#
The instrument is the 烟花爆竹安全管理条例 (yānhuā bàozhú ānquán guǎnlǐ tiáolì, Regulations on the Safety Administration of Fireworks and Firecrackers), published as State Council Order No. 455 on 21 January 2006 and revised by the State Council's decision of 6 February 2016.
Article 28 is short, and it is the whole architecture:
燃放烟花爆竹，应当遵守有关法律、法规和规章的规定。县级以上地方人民政府可以根据本行政区域的实际情况，确定限制或者禁止燃放烟花爆竹的时间、地点和种类。
Setting off fireworks must comply with the relevant laws, regulations and rules. Local governments at county level and above may, according to the actual circumstances of their area, determine the time, the place and the type of firework whose setting-off is restricted or prohibited.
Read what that does. The national text imposes no general prohibition of its own; it delegates, and it delegates three specific variables — when, where and which kind. Every "is it allowed?" question in China resolves to a county-level or municipal decision made under that sentence, which is why the answer changes from city to city and from year to year, and why no national answer exists to be looked up.
Seven places where it is barred anyway#
The finding that ran the other way#
This is the part that runs the reverse of the direction people assume.
Some localities had legislated blanket bans — no selling, no setting off, anywhere, ever. Citizens and companies asked the national legislature to review them. In its report on 2023 recording-and-review work, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress concluded:
有的地方性法规规定，全面禁止销售、燃放烟花爆竹。有公民和企业对全面禁止性规定提出审查建议。我们经审查认为，大气污染防治法、国务院制定的烟花爆竹安全管理条例等法律、行政法规对于销售、燃放符合质量标准的烟花爆竹未作全面禁止性规定，同时授权县级以上人民政府可以划定限制或者禁止燃放烟花爆竹的时段和区域；有关地方性法规关于全面禁止销售、燃放烟花爆竹的规定，与大气污染防治法和烟花爆竹安全管理条例的有关规定不一致；关于全面禁售、禁燃的问题，认识上有分歧，实践中也较难执行，应当按照上位法规定的精神予以修改。经沟通，制定机关已同意对相关规定尽快作出修改。
In summary: the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law and the fireworks regulation do not impose a blanket prohibition on selling or setting off fireworks that meet the quality standards, and they authorise county-level and higher governments to designate periods and areas for restriction or prohibition. Local rules imposing a blanket ban are therefore inconsistent with those two instruments, the question is contested and hard to enforce in practice, and the rules should be amended in the spirit of the higher-level law. The enacting bodies agreed to amend them.
Displays are a separate permission#
Watching a professional display is a different legal act from lighting something yourself. Article 42 puts a penalty behind the licensing of large displays:
对未经许可举办焰火晚会以及其他大型焰火燃放活动，或者焰火晚会以及其他大型焰火燃放活动燃放作业单位和作业人员违反焰火燃放安全规程、燃放作业方案进行燃放作业的，由公安部门责令停止燃放，对责任单位处1万元以上5万元以下的罚款。
Holding a firework gala or other large display without permission, or carrying out the firing in breach of the safety rules or the approved firing plan, means the public security department orders it stopped and fines the responsible unit 10,000 to 50,000 yuan. A big municipal display you can buy a ticket for has been through that permission; a large unlicensed one has not.
They travel worse than they burn#
Whatever the local rule says about setting them off, moving fireworks around is closed off in every direction this site has already documented.
- On the metro, they are among the categories that actually matter at the bag scanner — flammable liquids, large knives and fireworks.
- In the post or by courier, explosives are one of the nineteen prohibited categories, and the counter opens the box before accepting it.
- On a plane, China bars ignition sources from the hold as well as the cabin — a lighter in your suitcase is the same breach as one in your pocket.
The practical consequence is simple: fireworks are bought where they are used, from a licensed seller, and not carried between cities.
In practice#
- There is no national answer, and anyone who gives you one is guessing. The rule is a municipal or county decision on time, place and type.
- Check the city, and check the year. The power delegated by Article 28 is exercised locally, and after the 2023 review the bodies that had written blanket bans agreed to amend them.
- The seven places hold everywhere. Cultural relics sites, transport hubs, hospitals, schools, old people's homes, fuel depots, power corridors and forests are barred by the national regulation, not by local choice.
- A ticketed display is the safe way to see them. Large displays run under a permission with a fine behind it.
- Do not carry them. Metro security, couriers and airlines all treat them the same way, and buying locally is the only sensible route.
- Expect the noise anyway. Where setting-off is permitted at new year it is not a token — this is the fortnight to base yourself in one city rather than move.
- Hong Kong and Macau regulate fireworks under their own law entirely, so nothing above describes what is permitted there.
Checked for newer, and what I could not read#
Articles 28 and 30 were read on the Ministry of Justice's national administrative regulations database and cross-checked character for character against the Beijing market regulation bureau's copy of the same regulation. The two agree exactly, and both carry the same header: Order No. 455 of 21 January 2006, revised by the State Council decision of 6 February 2016. Article 42 was read on the Beijing copy only.
The 2023 recording-and-review passage was read on a county people's congress republication of the Commission's report. The report on the National People's Congress website itself returned 503, as did a provincial people's congress copy, a second provincial one and a municipal people's congress page, on the attempts made here — so that passage rests on the single republication, quoted above in full so that it can be checked.
Two things this page does not give. It gives no list of which cities currently permit what, because that is a local decision, and I found no single official source that collects those decisions nationally. And it says nothing about what the 2024 review found, because the commentary on it would not open from here.
Frequently asked questions#
Are fireworks banned in China?#
Not nationally. The Regulations on the Safety Administration of Fireworks and Firecrackers impose no general prohibition; Article 28 authorises local governments at county level and above to determine the time, place and type of firework whose setting-off is restricted or prohibited in their own area. The answer is therefore always local.
Where can you never set off fireworks in China?#
Article 30 lists seven categories that hold regardless of local rules: cultural relics protection units; stations, docks, airports and railway safety zones; premises producing or storing flammable or explosive materials; power transmission safety zones; medical institutions, kindergartens, schools and old people's homes; forests, grasslands and key fire-prevention areas; and anywhere else the local government designates.
Did China relax its firework bans?#
The national legislature's Legislative Affairs Commission reported in 2023 that local rules imposing a blanket ban on selling and setting off fireworks were inconsistent with the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law and the fireworks regulation, which authorise designating periods and areas rather than prohibiting outright, and that the enacting bodies had agreed to amend them.
Can you see fireworks at Chinese New Year?#
Where the local government permits it, and at licensed public displays. A large firework gala requires permission, and holding one without it means the public security department stops it and fines the responsible unit 10,000 to 50,000 yuan.
Can you take fireworks on the metro or post them in China?#
No. Fireworks are among the categories metro security genuinely stops, explosives are one of the nineteen prohibited categories for couriers and post, and the ignition-source rules on aircraft are stricter still. They are bought where they are used.
Why do firework rules change from city to city in China?#
Because the national regulation delegates the decision. Article 28 gives county-level and higher governments the power to fix the time, the place and the type according to local circumstances, so the rule is made locally and can be redrawn each year.