In Beigong the biggest holiday was the birthday of the water goddess. Beigong is a coastal town. On that day, people took the statue/shrine of the goddess and carried it around town for her to "survey" the land. People would prepare their shops for the goddess' appearance by putting up firecrackers. The firecrackers weren't just a single firecracker by itself, but a whole bunch tied together. WHen the goddess was coming, people would light the firecrackers from the bottom up. They also said that the longer the goddess stayed at the entrance, the more blessings you would get. So people also put firecrackers on the ground and lit them.
As kids, we were mischevious. Sometimes we would steal firecrackers so we could light them later. When a firecracker fell to the ground, we would stomp on it to put it out, then put it in our pocket. One time, a firecracker exploded in my pocket. It hurt!
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