The hearing will focus on two items in the draft regulation on safety of Fireworks and Firecrackers submitted by some municipal people's congress deputies on July 19.

One is whether the decision of banning firecrackers within thefifth ring road is reasonable and feasible? The other one is whether the decision to allow citizens living in the banned areas to play firecrackers during the Chinese Lunar New Year and other grand festivals is reasonable and feasible?

From Thursday on, all Beijing citizens, migrant workers and representatives of non-local companies can apply for attending thehearing through mail on Internet.

The new draft regulation on firecrackers was examined at the 21st meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th Beijing Municipal People's Congress held last week to make it more feasible.

For centuries, the act of setting off firecrackers is a symbol of traditional Chinese festivals, especially the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year.

However,it was banned in 1993 in Beijing, for it was consideredbeing environmental unfriendly and a cause of fires and other accidents.

In the past 12 years, the ban on firecrackers has been severelyquestioned by many Beijing citizens, who held that it was unacceptable to change folk tradition which was handed down from their forefathers.