Although the week-long Spring Festival holidays have ended, controversial discussions about how to mark the most important Chinese traditional festival, and how to keep traditional Chinese culture alive, continue.

　　Two matters - making traditional holidays official, and lifting the ban on setting off fireworks - have caused a lot of arguments.

　　Would making traditional Chinese holidays official, and letting the public have one or more days off, strengthen respect and affection for traditional culture?

　　People get seven days off including two weekends during the Spring Festival, but they have to work on other traditional holidays such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and Dragon Boat Festival.

　　Having a heavy workload during the holidays always makes the excitement drain away. In recent years, young people have become indifferent towards most of the traditional holidays. One reason for this is the fading holiday atmosphere.

　　The government should shoulder part of the responsibility as it decides which days are working days. How can one spend a carefree holiday in the office?

　　Because of the administration's attitude towards traditional holidays, the public always mistakenly relates them to superstitions. One can see why the public tends to play down the true meaning of ancient festivals.

　　Holidays provide people with a chance to slow down their frantic lives and spend some time with their families and friends. For this, people need some days off.

　　But at the moment it is a luxury for many young people in big cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, to be able to have a dinner with their parents several times a year.

　　Chinese people are not only losing out on some days off, but also on experiencing precious moments of companionship with others.

　　Supporters of the idea of making traditional holidays official believe such a move would help develop traditional culture and awaken the Chinese sense of appreciation for their own traditions, especially as the younger generation seems to show more interest in Western holidays.

　　But opponents cast doubt on this position. They hold that China does not need any more official holidays. The Chinese do not need to add more official festivals to their calendars, but need a straightforward way of spending holidays, they say.

　　If the Chinese do not improve the way they spend their holidays, such legislation would simply provide more official chances for parties.

　　Opponents also think that any artificial effort to promote the holidays would not fire overwhelming enthusiasm in people's minds. The failure to turn July 7 in the lunar calendar into Chinese Valentine's Day, proposed by a Chinese entrepreneur a few years ago, proves this.

　　The solution, according to opponents, is to attach modern meanings to the Chinese traditional holidays, making them easily and widely accepted by the public, and letting more people find out about the holidays' cultural origins.

　　The indifference people show towards traditional holidays should also be attributed to a loophole in the country's cultural construction, not simply to a lack of official holidays.

　　The government should play a leading role in promoting traditional holidays, not only by ensuring people have enough time off to enjoy the holidays, but also by guiding the public so they can spend more meaningful holiday time.

　　It is even more important to identify the hidden values of traditional holidays and to design a way of approaching holidays for young minds than having a day off.

　　The government also needs to show its wisdom in seeking a solution to the conflict between traditional customs and law enforcement, such as by lifting the ban on setting off fireworks.

　　Setting off fireworks and firecrackers is a long-standing and integral part of the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival seems incomplete without loud bangs. Firecrackers are to the lunar new year what Christmas trees are to Christmas. That's why every year many residents risk violating laws and getting hurt to set off fireworks and firecrackers where they are not supposed to.

　　For environmental and security reasons, many cities banned fireworks, lessening residents' enjoyment of the Spring Festival. The bans show that legislators do not fully understand traditional culture.

　　Respecting and developing traditional culture, whilst safeguarding personal security and property, are government responsibilities. When the two duties clash, the government must find a balance. In doing so the administration may win its citizens' support.

　　Letting off firecrackers has many side-effects that may be detrimental to personal safety, and spoil the celebratory mood. During the week-long Spring Festival last year, 307 people were hurt and four killed in Beijing.

　　Supporters of the ban believe the custom should be discarded as outdated and dangerous. The government should try to help the public shake off backward habits and establish a modern lifestyle.

　　Solving the problem of whether fireworks should be banned or not needs dialogue between legislators and the public. A compromise should be sought. For example, in recent years, a kind of electronic firecracker that does not contain any powder, but can reproduce the sound of an explosion, has been developed, and should be considered as a replacement for traditional firecrackers.

　　The production, circulation and sale of fireworks should be subject to stricter control and supervision. Unqualified and illegal fireworks should be prevented from going on sale, to minimize risk to personal safety.