Setting off fireworks is as about as Chinese as eating dumplings or practicing kung fu, but the side effects of letting off a few colorful explosions on the New Year can have a very negative impact on air quality.

This year, in Hechi, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the government encouraged local residents to not set off fireworks in order to help manage pollution levels, and as a result the amount of waste produced from fireworks was significantly less than in previous years.

Data from the morning of Feb 8, showed that the first day of the Year of Monkey in the Chinese lunar calendar, was a lot clearer and cleaner than the same day in 2015.

It showed that more and more local residents were changing their Spring Festival customs to be more environmentally responsible, coinciding with the government proposals.

It was found that the time duration of concentrated fireworks explosions shortened from last year's one whole hour to only 15 minutes this year, contributed to this year's better air quality and visibility.

Wei Meiqing, a sanitation worker in Hechi, started her work early at 3 am on the first day of the New Year, the same as former years. She found surprisingly little cleanup work to be done. "This year's waste from fireworks and crackers is the least I've seen in the 15 years since I became a sanitation worker," she said, happily.

The state of visibility is low at Wuzhongpo Road in the urban area of Hechi on the New Year's Eve of 2014. [Photo by Gao Dongfeng / hcwang.cn]

The sky becomes red attributed to fireworks discharge at Wuzhongpo Road in the urban area of Hechi on the New Year's Eve of 2015. [Photo by Gao Dongfeng / hcwang.cn]

The visibility of Wuzhongpo Road in the urban area of Hechi is much better on the New Year's Eve of 2016 compared with the same day in previous years. [Photo by Gao Dongfeng / hcwang.cn]

Edited by Owen Fishwick