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Beijing is to impose smoking ban
The government is hoping to not only clean up the city before the Olympics, but also discourage some of China's 350 million smokers.
For every three cigarettes lit worldwide, one is smoked in China. Almost 25% of the Chinese smoke.
Smoking is also contributing to a rapid rise of cancer and heart disease in the world's most populous country.
Enforcement team
In Beijing, the smokers are everywhere - and it feels like it.
But from Thursday, that may change.
The city authorities will impose a ban on smoking in most public buildings.
They say they are organising 100,000 existing employees to act as an enforcement team.
The authorities had wanted restaurants and bars to be mostly smoke-free as well, but there was too much resistance.
Instead, they must provide non-smoking areas or rooms.
Lack of awareness
"If measures are not taken, with so many smokers in China, in 10, 20, 30 years, the health system will have even higher burden to manage patients with cardio-vascular diseases, with cancer and so on," says Dr Hans Troedsson, the China representative for the World Health Organization.
"So it's a kind of sub-acute health threat here in China," he says.
The imminent Olympic Games have also strengthened motivation.
China wants to promote Beijing as a progressive, modern and clean city.
Less smoke and fewer cigarette butts could really help.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (8)
at 16:47 on April 30th, 2008
A statewide smoking ban in Iowa has recently been passed, let alone a super-arbitrary "campus smoking ban" here at the University of Iowa. I say arbitrary because, to get just about anywhere downtown, one must walk through parts of campus. I'm not sure how it's going to be enforced, but it sure is confusing for smokers.
Edit: Er...on a side note.
at 16:49 on April 30th, 2008
Interesting. I remember when the smoking ban came into effect in England - people didn't know what to do for the first few days. It didn't have as much of an impact as I thought it would though; people just smoked outside instead.
at 18:03 on April 30th, 2008
I caught a picture of a construction worker in Beijing grabbing a smoke break in the hutong neighborhood north of Lake Ho Hai. September, 2007
lrittelm has contributed a photo to this story.
at 18:12 on April 30th, 2008
When I took this shot I first noticed his cool fur hat and laid-back attitude while he sat on his three-wheel motorcycle. At the time we were living in Korea and were visiting Beijing, and it's more than China that is consumed by smokers.
shanestrudwick has contributed a photo to this story.
at 18:31 on April 30th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. China consumes huge quantity of tobacco and and suffer from diseses. Hopefully this move will bring some restraint.
at 20:59 on April 30th, 2008
Take a drag to pass the time.
call me jonah has contributed a photo to this story.
at 21:55 on April 30th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. Boy, one can be sure the CHineses will not be too happy with that as they are the number 1 smokers in the world. That may be the thing that breaks the communists back.
at 23:32 on April 30th, 2008
Force is a terrible way to educate people. Societies which use force, violence, and fear are doomed to failure and collapse. Only societies which prevent and shun the initiation of force will thrive and become self-sustainable and harmonious.
No where on earth does such a society currently exist.
See www.sudval.org for more info on this concept.