New Beijing regulations ban smoking in restaurants and other public places. (Image: Rona Chang/Flickr)
If you travel to China on business, you know that breathing fresh air can be a problem — not only due to the sun-blocking pollution in major cities, but also to residents’ devotion to smoking cigarettes in public.
But now, according to the BBC, the city of Beijing is taking tough steps to control that habit. Effective this month, the city’s new rules will impose fines to eliminate cigarette smoking in restaurants, in offices, and on public transportation, putting “thousands of inspectors” in the field as enforcers.
An individual who breaks the rules could be fined $32, and businesses that permit smoking could have to pay up to 50 times that amount.
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Still, the habit is deeply ingrained in Chinese society so it will be a challenge for Beijing’s new squad of no-smoking enforcers to root it out.
Does the prevalence of public smoking in other countries surprise or bother you when overseas? Leave your comments below.
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Well, the Chinese government can make this happen a lot more efficiently than other governments could. Last year the French unveiled a program to stamp out smoking within 40 years (hardly a crash program) and the cigarette manufacturers immediately threatened lawsuits and street demonstrations. I doubt whether that reaction will be seen in Beijing. Good luck to them, because every year over a million Chinese die from cigarette-related causes, according to the estimates I’ve seen.