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Q: Is lighting "sky lanterns" technically illegal?
Last summer I was visiting Qingdao and I lit a sky lantern (the kind that float up into the sky) from one of the city's beaches. I was later told by someone watching that this was illegal.
Is it actually? Or is it the kind of illegal that the authorities just turn a blind eye to?
11 years 12 weeks ago in Visa & Legalities - China
If the lanterns are nearby a airport it is considered illegal as most airports have no go zone for obstructions that could impede the safety of aircraft and passengers.
For your general question I wouldn't't think it is illegal as every gov official does this.
Last year, the CCTV tower in Beijing caught fire. This was claimed to be because of fireworks and lanterns. Lanterns lit in the city has also been known to drift and fall in the countryside and cause fires in the fields, so there very well might be laws against it. But like most laws in China, they are often ignored and not enforced.
I think that the attitude that most Chinese have towards laws like this can best be summed up by this piano playing cat.
There are two different words relating to this : 违法 and 违规
The first one refers to behaviors that violate laws. And the second refers to behaviors that violate regulations. Laws have to be passed by different levels of the China Congress (People's Representatives Conference ). Regulations are issued by bureau departments.
In the Sky Lanterns case, it's 违规 not 违法。
Sometimes the guards would like to prevent people flying those Sky Lanterns because they are afraid it might cause a fire.
PS: I am not really clear about China's laws..... I looked it up too and Chinese people said so....
should be made illegal ... or there should be some way to guarantee the safety... just today .. i saw one of them failed just 15m above ground and fell over a building.... this could be very dangerous...
Are you really suggesting that there are laws in China?
Unbelievable !!!
I didn't see any of these "sky lanterns" out last night (in Beijing). I thought that was the whole point of the Lantern Festival...
Instead, people were just blowing sh*t up until like 24:00.
You were lucky, they were blowing the sh*t up here in Nanning, until well after 1am !!
Using sky lanterns near airports is strictly prohibited in China. We know that Chinese and Japanese cultures use lanterns in every festival and event.
There also one truth that sky lanterns become also risk sometimes like it can also cause case of fire. So one should leave them carefully.
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