I
heard that when Marco Polo first opened the trade routes
to China, he was quite impressed with their rockets.
Now, they weren't quite like the fireworks we know
today, but they did shoot into the air, explode and make
some pretty patterns.
No
matter where he went, there were people who made
fireworks, but strangely, he had trouble finding someone
to demonstrate them for him. "Not here!" they
would say.
It
was very confusing. Until one day ol' Marc came
upon an ancient military fortification at the community
of Chu'Lai. Here, fireworks were launched every
night, and Marco was very impressed!
But still he wondered, "Why here?" Every week,
people came from great distances, bringing their own
fireworks to launch. So finally, Marco Polo asked
his guide why everyone always came there to launch their
fireworks.
Marco's guide replied, "Why honored sir, we always set
off fireworks on the Forts of Chu'Lai."