The Shanghai Fire Control Bureau has issued a list of 10 Dos and 10 Don'ts for local residents buying fireworks, to ensure a safe and lively Chinese Lunar New Year.

Fire officials stressed that fireworks should only be purchased at standard businesses, which have been granted Shanghai Pyrotechnics Sale Permits by local fire authorities.

In addition to looking closely at the exterior of the fireworks and the packaging, customers are advised to look for a digital anti-counterfeit sticker on every firework to distinguish between quality fireworks and counterfeits.

Police have also set up a hot line, 6232-2110, and are calling on the public to provide tips about anyone producing or selling fireworks illegally in the city.

If a tip proves helpful, the caller will be offered an award of 20 yuan (US$2.40) for each box of contraband pyrotechnics seized.

As a usual practice before the Spring Festival, local fire authorities will destroy a large quantity of illicit fireworks that were confiscated recently at an artillery base in Fengxian District today.

(Shanghai Daily January 25, 2006)