Fireworks in Tibet should happen continuously and on the largest possible scale. This conclusion is compelled by news of a grand display of fireworks in the mountains of Tibet and the aftermath of this display.
The display, called Ascending Dragon or Rising Dragon, was pre-approved by a local official. Turned out to be pointless.
It seems that if one wants to avoid getting into trouble for doing anything out of the ordinary in the People’s Republic of China and conquered regions like “autonomous” Tibet, one must trek to Beijing and talk to Xi Jinping in person, securing his approval in triplicate. Especially if fun, always suspect, is involved. Especially if persons with access to social media might see what you’re doing.
Outcry
A show of fireworks in the Himalayas by clothing brand Arc’teryx “prompts environmental outcry,” sparks “outrage,” and forces Arc’teryx to apologize.
Of course there was environmental outcry. Wouldn’t you be upset if a fireworks show had blown up important mountains like the Himalayas so that boulders and dust buried all nearby areas? Destroying a natural wonder like the Himalayas is too steep a price to pay for a fleeting display of color and light and sound.
NBC News (September 22, 2025):
Officials in Tibet are investigating after the Canadian outdoor apparel brand Arc’teryx set off fireworks in the Himalayas in a publicity stunt that was widely criticized over its potential impact on the environment.
The fireworks display, called the “Ascending Dragon,” was staged Friday by Arc’teryx and the prominent Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang at an altitude of about 18,000 feet in the Himalayas, a highly fragile and unstable ecosystem in southwest Tibet, according to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency.
The show played out in three acts, with bursts of color igniting one after another along the ridge, tracing the mountain’s outline in rainbow-like waves, according to videos that have since been deleted.
A local environmental official told the state-run news outlet The Beijing News that the event did not require review because it used eco-friendly materials. The display site was outside any protected area, and there was no sign of ecological damage so far, the official said.
The Guardian:
The promotional Rising Dragon high-altitude show involved long stretches of choreographed pyrotechnics and coloured smoke along snow-topped Himalayan ridgelines in the Tibetan region of Shigatse. The Canadian company, part-owned by China’s Anta Group, had partnered with a Chinese artist, Cai Guo-Qiang, who oversaw similar shows for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The organisers said the display used biodegradable, environmentally friendly materials, that all stock herds had been relocated and wildlife had been coaxed away with salt bricks. It said the project had passed tests in line with those set by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and abided by pollution management standards equivalent to those in Japan and Europe.
Yes, it was very, very, very, very bad, what Arc’teryx did using “eco-friendly” materials outside of any protected area and with no sign of ecological damage so far. (I was just kidding about how the fireworks destroyed the Himalayas. The Himalayas are still there.)
Arc’teryx said that the intention of the project was to “raise awareness of local culture in the high mountains through artistic creation.” If you want to read its groveling apology and that of the fireworks impresario, Cai Guo-Qiang, click on the above links. I don’t blame them. In a country like China, which in addition to being a totalitarian dictatorship sometimes pretends to be concerned about the environment, telling the critics to shove it could mean jail time.
Unhappiness
According to Sho Hu, a “Beijing-based public relations consultant and commentator”: “This is a shift shaped by different stages of China’s economic growth. People are no longer interested in pursuing grand celebrations. Instead, they choose to focus on themselves, because they don’t feel as happy as they used to.”
We can’t see into the souls of the complainers. That misery loves company seems as plausible an explanation as any.
