I'd be willing to bet that those guys are drinking as well. If this is your first CNY on the mainland, be prepared for the shock of your life in 30 minutes. Basically, multiply what you're witnessing now by a factor of 500 (a number that will gradually regress back down to 1 by 9am)... a process which will repeat itself at specific intervals during the next week or so.

You guys want to see Burning Houses? Come visit me in Detroit on the day before Halloween :cool:

Well you were right.

The closer to midnight it got, the more extreme it got. I swear our building was shaking. Got super intense at midnight.

It is now 7 am the next morning and it still is going off. You can hear the rumble of more blasts going off in the distance, with the regular explosions that are within the complex.

This whole experience is not a pleasant experience.

They have some pretty strict laws to preclude accidents.

Liu Guozhong, head of Biejing's bureau fire prevention division, said people are only allowed to store one box - or 30 kilograms - of fireworks or firecrackers in their homes. :D

I fly back to Beijing on Saturday and am absolutely dreading the next 10 days or so. :(

I wish Beijing govt would go back to the pre-2005 era of banning firecrackers and fireworks (except for authorized gov't displays). They are insane to keep allowing this mayhem in the city.

Speaking of firecrackers and Hong Kong, I was actually surprised to hear them from my hotel room at midnight here last night. Well, I guess I shouldn't be, since I'm actually in the N.T. and not in the middle of the city; and so easy to smuggle a few pieces from China.

it was LOUD last night in SH
thankfully, i'm off to someplace warm for the rest of the week

That's a smart way to play the game.

In fact, I want to advise the OP to limit the HK stay to 3 days and then continue on to some place warm (e.g. Boracay, Koh Samui, even Maldives if your budget permits). I like the idea of him celebrating the "water dragon" (I've heard that dragon CNYs are completely off the hook) in China, but also wish him the best vacation possible.

Also, no one's mentioned Taiwan yet TMK; this should also be a consideration.

http://msn.ynet.com/pic.jsp?oid=76523142

(Shenyang, to be fair)

I'm sure the Chinese will all abide by that. :rolleyes: There had to be at least 200 kg of used up fireworks the day before NY's outside my apartment in PVG. And that was just the kids playing, the adults lit stuff up at night.

If you have reservations at the Shenyang Sheraton anytime soon, you might want to double-check. Might smell a little smoky in there.

The holiday period is young yet, we might yet see some more flaming torches before Lantern Festival concludes.

Wow! I posted in haste and assumed it was just another run of the mill Chinese "5-star" hotel, but the Lido is arguably the best hotel in Shenyang.... amazing hamburgers.

If I've got the story straight, the fire started in the next-door multi-story Dynasty building complex in an apartment tower, spread to that complexes' hotel tower, then crossed over to singe part of the top floor(s) of the Sheraton. Sounds like it wasn't the Sheraton that was fully engulfed, but that they got some blowback and damage. That close to a major fire, there's bound to be serious smoke affect even if the flames didn't get bad. Of course, there could be more accurate details still to come. Funny that a lot of the English language stories on this incident (that I've seen) mention "evacuating the Sheraton staff as a precaution..." with no mention about evacuating any Sheraton guests.:D

Hmmm, what sort of building/construction & fire safety codes do they have? Shouldn't there be some sort of sprinkler and interior fire stops to limit the spread of fire/smoke to "contain" these type of high-rise fire?

I suppose their commercial insurance will take care of the claims ....

What a way to start off, Happy New Year :D with a bang, fire & smoke ....

Actually, surprisingly strict on codes and design for. Unfortunately, due to the system and the power of the Chinese general contractor, things don't necessarily get built to plan. And let's not forget poor operations once the building opens (propping open fire doors, sprinklers not periodically tested, etc.). It will be interesting to see what comes out of the investigation on this...though the public rarely hears about the findings as things get hushed up.