“Let life be beautiful like summer flowers and death like autumn leaves.”
- Stray Birds, by Rabindranath Tagore

During the summertime, the air is still, the sun is rare, and the hydrangeas are in full bloom. It is the best time of the year to have a lazy day.

The lost time in Vancouver always reminds me of this rapidly changing world. Scorching sun in summer, the hidden red under the white snow in winter, suddenly, the four seasons jumped out of the water distinctly. Is this the same place I arrived nearly 20 years ago?

The lost time in Vancouver always reminds me of this rapidly changing world. Scorching sun in summer, the hidden red under the white snow in winter, suddenly, the four seasons jumped out of the water distinctly. Is this the same place I arrived nearly 20 years ago?

From about winter to the end of spring, you frequently see rain as a curtain hanging around. This shows you the real Vancouver. Without the wet season, there will be no sufficient water to nourish the soil and nature that fill the city with greenery. With the scorching sun, forests, mountains, beaches, blue sky, white clouds and comfortable warm weather at your door front, hiking is not necessary for you to enjoy all the beautiful things you need.

After 2 years of the pandemic, the summer fireworks in Vancouver have finally resumed. This year is the 30th of the festival. The event was held on 3 different days to present the fireworks from 3 countries, July 23rd (Saturday) for Japan, 27th (Wednesday) for Canada and 30th (Saturday) for Spain.

Japan

The first day started with a fantastic performance by the Japanese company Akariya Fireworks. By inventing new technology and integrating the new concepts of environmental protection, the Japanese team brought an innovative and creative fireworks performance to us, which brightened the sky in Vancouver’s English Bay.

©Photography by Mr. Zhang, a famous Realtor in Vancouver

Canada

On the second day of the event, the Canadian Midnight Sun Fireworks Company, which represented Canada in the competition, as always, delivered an outstanding performance. They perfectly integrated the rich visual image and music into one, presenting a unique fireworks display to us. Their performance came with climaxes one after another bringing tremendous cheers from the audience.

Spain

On the third day, the Spanish company Pirotecnia Zaragozana lived up to expectations. The beautiful large-scale fireworks constantly blooming in the night sky brought cheers from the audience. They pushed the whole event to a climax and gave a perfect ending to it.

Finally, the Canadian team, Midnight Sun Fireworks won the competition with their creativity and positive energy.

Since the pandemic in Vancouver, these 3 fireworks displays have been probably the most lively ones, but I was not that excited. On the balcony, watching them from afar, hearing the huge blooming sounds of the fireworks exploding, I felt a strong emotion surging inside my heart, which was far beyond any stimulation from the outside world.

©Angela Bi

On a midsummer night, the beautiful night sky as a canvas

Cai Guo-Qiang is one of my favourite artists. His fireworks creations are remarkable and very unique.

"Footprints of History"

In 2008, at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, 29 huge "Footprints" in the form of fireworks stepped over the sky.

"Sky Ladder"

In 2015, a "Sky Ladder" exploded in Quanzhou, Fujian as a gift to Cai’s hometown. A golden firework ladder with a width of 5.5 meters and a height of 500 meters rose from the ground to the sky.

"The 'Sky Ladder' creates a connection between the earth and the universe, reality and infinity, people and their hometown..."

“The Ninth Wave”

In 2014, he transported a fishing boat from his hometown of Quanzhou and completed "The Ninth Wave" on the Huangpu River in Shanghai. It opens with black and white fireworks "Elegy," continues with colourful smoke "Remembrance," and ends with "Consolation," a firework looks like "Yellow Willows," both magnificent and poignant.

"City of Flowers in the Sky"

In 2018, the daytime explosion plan, "City of Flowers in the Sky" was carried out at Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence, Italy, close to the statue of David. It began with “Thunder”, followed with six acts including “God of the West Wind and Goddess of the Land”, "The birth of Flora", "Venus", "Three Graces", "Spiritual Garden" and "Red Lily". Thousands of flowers created by fireworks blossomed in the sky as if the historic city, “City of Flowers” appeared once again.

Cai Guo-Qiang, "Renaissance Flower Garden", Gunpowder, Canvas, 2018

"The Birth of Tragedy"

In 2020, in the Charente River in Cognac, France, for the first time, through livestream, Cai Guo-Qiang showed the audience worldwide "The Birth of Tragedy", in which fireworks blasted from the water. Twenty thousand fireworks burst out from 150 oak barrels creating a colourful image to honour the perseverance, courage and hope of mankind shown in the pandemic.

"Your Daytime Fireworks"

He recently launched his third NFT project "Your Daytime Fireworks" with TRLab, a completely community-driven art work. On 90 days of Cai’s calendar, there are 90 different daytime fireworks in 14 firework styles influenced by 12 countries and different weather conditions.

As an artist, Cai Guo-Qiang blasted gunpowder from China to France, Italy and other parts of the world, and even to the virtual world of NFT. His fireworks are not only emotional and romantic but also philosophical and speculative. The metaphysics of traditional culture, the unity of man and nature, are reflected in his work of art.

Firework is a universal language. Using the sky as a canvas allows us to appreciate the strength shown in lines and the colourful images. It allows us to explore beyond the horizontal boundary and leave passion and beauty in the sky.

Watching fireworks with you around the world is the most romantic thing I can imagine. It is like the song, "Firework" by Katy Perry.

"Do you know that there's still a chance for you?

Cause there's a spark in you."

For those who are passionate about life and dream, the beautiful night sky is always in your heart. Our quality worldwide services for you are like the sky in your heart: more than 200 projects, covering 5 continents and 50+ countries. As the only organization from China in the Investment Migration Council (IMC), which is reputed by the United Nations, we have successfully helped over 200,000 high-net-worth individuals to realize their immigration dreams. Let us work together to plan your future and make your dreams come true. To fight for your dream and future, to shine on your own stage and bloom all the way!

A choice for your dream is like a night sky for fireworks,

it lets you shine brightly.

Angela Bi 毕颖

TCT Arte House, Founder

angelabi@tctandco.com

Written on August 18th, 2022

Chinese Version 中文版