Focus on Arts and Ecology

Important environmental story from China, synthesised from local and international media, September 26, 2025

On 19 September, outdoor brand Arc’teryx staged a fireworks display on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau that led to public criticism over its potential impacts on the ecologically fragile high-altitude environment.

Videos of the “Rising Dragon” promotional display showed rounds of zigzag-shaped fireworks, created in collaboration with fireworks artist Cai Guoqiang, being launched in the Chaqionggangri mountain ridge in Tibet’s Shigatse prefecture at an altitude of up to 5,000 metres.

Event organisers subsequently said they had taken several environmental measures, including using biodegradable materials and luring small animals such as pikas away from the launch zone using salt blocks. They added that residue from the fireworks was cleaned up immediately after the event, with nearby vegetation restored to prevent ecological damage.

Despite securing local government approval, the display triggered widespread criticism from Chinese internet users, some of whom saw it as destructive, reported People’s Daily. Experts such as Gu Yourong, a board member of the China Wild Plant Conservation Association and associate professor at the Capital Normal University, raised concerns about the potential harm caused to alpine vegetation, soil and wildlife.

Arc’teryx and Cai both issued public apologies on 21 September. That same day, the Shigatse Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government launched an investigation into the matter, reported Beijing News.

Gu noted that the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is one of China’s most ecologically fragile regions. Once alpine meadow vegetation in the region is damaged by explosions, it is extremely difficult to restore. He said that efforts such as luring pikas with salt blocks are ineffective as they tend not to stray far from their burrows. Meanwhile, the cornstarch used in the display, even if biodegradable, is still a foreign biological material whose decomposition rate in low temperatures and at high altitudes is unknown.

Gu added that the event could potentially face legal risk under the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Law if it damaged vegetation, but that this can only be determined with detailed post-event evaluation and monitoring.

(Sources: Dialogue Earth)