BEIJING An explosion of pyrotechnics will light up the sky to open the Beijing Olympics, but city residents have been banned from using fireworks for their own celebrations (Jane Macartney writes).

The sale and use of fireworks have been prohibited within a 100m radius of the 31 Olympic sites, including the National Stadium – or Bird’s Nest – and the Water Cube, to ensure that they are not threatened by fire.

The move comes as the 15 million residents of Beijing prepare to celebrate the lunar new year, which falls on February 6 and will climax with huge fireworks displays. Firecrackers are already banned around schools, hospitals, diplomatic compounds and historical sites.

China invented fireworks but has long prohibited their use because of accidents. Fireworks to mark the start of the Year of the Pig early this year killed one man, injured 124 and started more than 100 fires in the capital alone.

This week a blast at an illegal fireworks shop in central Hunan province killed 13 people and injured six. Five children were also killed while playing in a disused firecrackers factory in northern Shanxi province.

Times Recommends

• The truth behind Obama's meteoric ascent
• Christians flee Iraq amid religious cleansing
• Aid agencies: 5m face starvation in Zimbabwe