A Big Night of Fireworks

Yesterday night was the last and ultimate night of the Chinese New Year celebration, the Lantern Festival. Read plenty fireworks. If I imagined that the noise we heard every other night since our return was disruptive, yesterday made me review my views. Ever tried to fall asleep to the constant distant banging of fireworks, with the optional ones just right in front of our building? Noam was. Pauli too. I guess I am just like the princess and the pea, can't sleep with that! 

It all started around five o'clock in the afternoon. At first onset of artillery, I rushed from one end of the appartment to the other, calling Naom and Lili Ayi to watch the lights just below our windows.  Their frequency increased until seven o'clock, where it was just happening everywhere. From our 14th floor window, you could see Beijing sky lighting up in spots behind buildings, alongside with a constant banging background noise.

A few hours Noam was tired and went to bed with his usual "wave music" a little bit louder, covering some of the outside noise. Probably around 8 PM me and Pauli both went out on our balcony, admiring the overall effects of fireworks coming simultaneously from all sides, then I just grew annoyed by the noise. Supposedly there are some regulations in Beijing about the types of fireworks permitted, but I doubt anything was enforced, as the lights were easily rising above some 100 meters-high buildings. There would also be a law limiting fireworks launching prior to midnight, else imprisonment, but at four in the morning I woke up to some sporadic bangs.

What a shock to me this morning when I witnessed from my taxi window the blackened Mandarin Hotel. We live 3 blocks away (read 20 minutes walk) from the internationally known CCTV complex, the towers internationally famous Dutch OMA/Koolhaas office designed for the Chinese Public Television Network. From our livingroom and bedroom windows, we can see behind a forest of skyscrapers the top of its most important structure, commonly knicknamed here by the taxi drivers as the "Trousers", due to its unique upside-down U shape. Beside it lies another interesting building, also part of the CCTV complex , in the shape of an immense folded corrugated metal sheet, shielding a 300 room luxury hotel, the Mandarin Hotel, and a 1500-seats theatre for CCTV. The structure is also nicknamed the "Termite Nest". It was Pauli's favorite, a unique and odd shape, and a somewhat mysterious but strong image.

Yesterday, amist the big party, one firecracker would have landed on the roof of the hotel building, destroying it completely. The hotel was nearing completion, with an official opening targeted for May 2009. A very sad day for the team of architects and builders who worked intensely at it for about 7 years.

Here is what I have been able to gather: the fire started around 8:20 PM, and it took over 30 minutes for the crew of firefighters to show up. A first crew went up into the building, but had to turn around as the fire was too intense. They tried to spray in vain from their high ladder but the top of the 157 meter high building was out of reach. One fireman lost is life in the blaze while 6 other persons were injured. It is only several hours after the onset of the blaze, that the fire was controlled and extinguished.

The building burned like a vulgar crumpled paper ball. Flames engulfed it completely, leaving behind a metal carbonized skeleton, blowing in fumes a portion of its 157$ million value.

The fire spread with such force that one can wonder if the building was constructed to fire standards. But since it was still under construction, its sprinklers systems were not functioning, and some of its building components were not yet properly installed, creating a fertile ground for the flames to spread. 

CCTV since has offered official apologies (and this is no small feat in China, to have a public organization to do so) for its responsibility. In fact a group of CCTV employees hired a firework crew to "impress" the general public, and set fireworks in the centre of the complex. They indeed put a great show! The fireworks used where illegal, of a strength similar to those used during the Olympics. Probably it was some of those we witness from our balcony earlier in the evening. 

Most amazingly the "Chinese Big Brother" even with such event, tried to "control" its image. A notice was sent to all media websites saying as follow:  
To all websites: Report related to the Fire in the CCTV new building, please only use Xinhua news report. No photo, no video clip, no in-depth report; the news should be put on news area only, close the comment posts, don’t top the forum blogpost, don’t recommend posts related with the subject.

So no front pages, no major reporting from any Chinese agencies. And less than 12 hours (!!) after the event, no more information could be found on the Chinese media. Even CCTV, who's own headquarters were burning, did not even had more than a few lines about it. Ironical for a State Television! How can something so newsworthy, so difficult to hide can be given the silence treatment?

But at last in the street the citizens were there taking pictures, filming and later blogging about it. We live in the era of information, and as one foreign journalist stated it: Can Paper Wrap Fire? 

Here are a few links from Reuters, a slide show from NY Times, some comments and images published by The Shanghaiist. Le Monde also published something later this week.