为庆祝美国独立日，美国驻华使领馆将在7月4日星期三闭馆。

为了庆祝7月4日美国独立纪念日（Independence Day），很多美国人往往遵循传统，在晚间仰望灿烂的烟花在群星闪烁的星空燃放。此时此刻爱国情操油然而生。

燃放烟花的传统始于美国开国元勋之一，美国第二任总统约翰·亚当（John Adams）。他认为燃放烟花应该是独立纪念日的一项庆祝活动。他在给妻子阿比盖尔（Abigail）的信中写道，“从此以往，钟声、篝火和闪亮的光芒，从大陆的这一端延续到那一端，永世无穷。 ”

美国人接受他的建议奉行至今，亚当一定会因此感到欣慰。

据美国烟花协会（American Pyrotechnics Association）说，今年7月4日这一天全美将有16,000 多场烟花表演，其中规模最大的演出在纽约（New York）、波士顿（Boston）、华盛顿（Washington）、纳什维尔（Nashville）、圣地亚哥（San Diego）和芝加哥（Chicago）。

该协会执行主任朱莉 ·赫克曼说，“有些演出活动早在一年前就开始筹划。“

烟花演艺公司（Pyro Shows Inc.）作为全世界最大的烟花公司之一， 今年采用新的燃放技术。该公司行政运营主任詹姆斯·伍兹（James Woods）说，公司使用更多电脑化的燃放系统，可以达到瞬间准确燃放。

伍兹说，“为了庆祝这个日子，每一年的7月4日，每一场烟花表演，都体现了强烈的爱国情操。”

Fireworks light up the sky on the 4th of July [video]

For many in the United States on July 4, the traditional way to end the day is to sit down, look up and watch a fireworks show — an artistic display of light, color and sound that fills the sky, evoking a sense of patriotic pride on America’s Independence Day.

Fireworks displays are an annual tradition, one that began with John Adams — a Founding Father and the country’s second president. Adams envisioned fireworks as part of Independence Day celebrations. In a letter to his wife, Abigail, Adams explained that the festivities should include “Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations [fireworks] from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

Adams would likely be pleased that Americans took his advice — and ran with it.

This July 4, there will be over 16,000 fireworks shows nationwide, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association. The largest shows will be held in New York, Boston, Washington, Nashville, San Diego and Chicago.

“Some of these displays are planned out a year in advance,” says Julie Heckman, the association’s executive director.

Pyro Shows Inc. — one of the largest fireworks companies in the world — is introducing new technologies this year, “employing more computerized firing systems that give you split-second accuracy,” says the company’s director of administrative operations, James Woods.

“Every Fourth of July — and every fireworks display, for that matter — has a very strong patriotic feel,” says Woods.