鞭炮(biān pào) - firecrackers in Mandarin

鞭炮 (biān pào) means firecrackers, from 鞭 (biān, whip, here a string of firecrackers linked like a whip) and 炮 (pào, cannon, gun, firework). Together they describe the strings of small explosives set off in bunches rather than a single rocket.

放鞭炮 (fàng biān pào), literally "to release firecrackers", is the set phrase for setting them off, most associated with 春节 (chūn jié), Spring Festival, and the belief that the noise scares off bad luck and the mythical beast 年 (nián) said to threaten villages each new year.

Be careful with the measure word and verb: 鞭炮 (biān pào) is usually counted as 一挂鞭炮 (yī guà biān pào), "a string of firecrackers", using 挂 (guà) rather than 个 (gè), and the action is 放 (fàng), not 打 (dǎ) or 开 (kāi).