中国新年36 浏 阳 烟 花
Back in Hong Kong, there's still a few hours to go before one of the world's biggest pyrotechnic performances.
I'm here at Victoria Harbour where the crowds are already gathered for tonight's fireworks.
The Chinese certainly know how to put on an amazing display
which is no coincidence when you consider this country produces 90% of the world's fireworks.
The fireworks for tonight's event have been produced and shipped from one particular part of China.
In Liuyang, every day starts with a bang.
For the people here, a day without detonations is a missed opportunity.
That's because Liuyang, nestled in the lush green landscapes of Hunan Province, is China's biggest producer of fireworks.
Over half the world's fireworks are made right here in this region.
Fireworks is a way of life for the people here.
One fifth of the population, that's over 300,000 people, work with the industry.
The tradition of firework making in Liuyang goes back more than a thousand years.
A local monk called Li Tian wanted to frighten off evil spirits,
so he filled pieces of bamboo with gunpowder and blew them up, creating the world's first firecracker.
Today Li Tian is still honoured as the inventor of the firework with a Taoist temple devoted to him in Liuyang.
回到香港，还有几个小时才到世界上最大的烟花表演
我在维多利亚港，一大堆人都来等着今晚的烟花表演了
中国人民显然很会进行一场精彩表演
很自然而然的，正是这个国家生产了世界上90%的烟花
今晚表演所用的烟花乃是来自中国的一个特别的地方
在浏阳，每天都炮声隆隆
对于这里的人们来说，一天都没有爆炸声那可就怪了
浏阳坐落于湖南省内一处郁郁葱葱的地方，它是中国最大的烟花制造地
全世界半数的烟花都是在这里的这个地方做的
烟花是当地人民的一种生活方式
1/5的人口，共30万人都从事烟花制造业
浏阳制造烟花的传统可追溯至一千多年前
当地一名叫李畋的道士，他想吓走邪灵
所以往竹筒里装了些火药然后引爆，这便是世界最早的爆竹
今天李畂仍被敬为花炮始祖，浏阳有座道馆就是供奉他的
You can see there's three statues here.
On the left we got Cai Lun, this is the guy that invented paper.
On the right, Sun Simiao, this is the guy that many believe invented gunpowder.
And in the middle you have the main man, Li Tian.
You can see he's holding that bit of bamboo shoot.
This city owes so much to him, he is held in great esteem.
It would be the equivalent of us back in the UK having a temple or shrine to Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Ancestral worship is an important part of Chinese culture,
so local firework makers come here to pay their respects to this man who founded their industry.
The constant background of bangs doesn't put them off venerating Li Tian.
So what's it like living with all those fireworks going off all the time?
这里共有三尊雕像
左边的是蔡伦，他发明了纸
右边是孙思邈，许多人认为是他发明了火药
中间的就是我们的主角，李畂
你能看到他拿着一小截竹筒
这座城市十分推崇他，他倍受尊敬
这就相当于在我们英国给修铁路的布鲁内尔修庙
先祖崇拜是中国文化的重要部分
所以当地的烟花师会来这里瞻仰他们的祖师爷
隆隆炮声也阻挡不了人们对李畂的崇敬
生活中老是有烟花的爆炸声，是什么感觉呢
These days, fireworks are a big business and there are now over 800 fireworks companies in the Liuyang area.
Dancing Fireworks is a 20-year-old family run company. It now employs 1,600 people.
By far the most popular fireworks the Dancing factory makes are what are known as display shells.
These are for huge events like the Beijing Olympics, which Dancing supplied.
Display shells like the ones in this wirehouse got to 300 metres and explode into massive starbursts.
And they are still largely made by hand in factories like this.
The workers at Dancing produce an extraordinary 2.7 million shells a year, that's one shell every 12 seconds.
Each shell is made of a dome of pressed cardboard, with a time delay fuse stuck in with string and glue.
The Dancing factory doesn't just assemble fireworks, it also comes up with new designs for the global market.
One of the main ingredients used make gunpowders is a chemical called saltpetre.
They use to get it from bat droppings found in caves.
Nowadays, they make it synthetically but the principles are about the same.
The science behind fireworks, however, that's really involved.
And I've been given special permission to come here, to the factory development lab to take a look.
现在的烟花可是门大生意，浏阳地区现有烟花公司800多家
东信烟花厂是一家20年的家族企业。现在有雇员1600人
目前东信烟花厂制造的最流行的烟花就是所称的礼花炮
像北京奥运这种大活动用的就是东信的礼花炮
这房子里的这种礼花炮能打上300米高，爆成大片火花
而它们仍然多数采用手工制作，工厂就像这样
东信的工人们每年惊人地生产270万花炮，相当于每12秒造一发花炮
每个花炮都用球状纸板包住，塞进延时引信后，再用绳子和胶水封住
东信烟花厂不仅组装烟花，它也会迎合全球市场推出新设计
制作火药的一种主要原料，就是一种化学品叫，硝
以前是要到洞穴里从蝙蝠粪中提取的
现如今可以靠人工合成了，但背后的原理也差不多
然而烟花里面的科学才是真正重要的
我得到特殊允许来到这里，进入工厂的实验室一探究竟
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