Multicoloured fireworks, arranged in a meandering line that resembled a dragon crawling along a pastoral mountain ridge, exploded at the foot of the Himalayas in September.
Cai Guo-qiang, the 67-year-old Chinese artist behind the spectacle, has long been a global heavyweight in the contemporary arts. For decades, the arsonist-artist best known for setting his work alight was deemed to have perfected the delicate art of maintaining official approval in both the West and mainland China.






