No smoking

The smoking ban has been in place for just over a week now and there are some visible changes but not the expected ones.

Huge 'no smoking' signs have been put up in the entrance hall at the big Dongzhimen bus station in Beijing's Chaoyang district. However, right next to them, a group of men is blatantly ignoring the ban, puffing away and blowing smoke rings into the air.

"We are truck drivers," says one of them. "We haven't heard about the smoking ban. If smoking really has been banned in public or on trains we will have to smoke in secret. We would all like to give up but it is impossible."

One in two Chinese men smoke regularly

China is the country with the most smokers in the world, with one in two men lighting up regularly. Every year, over a million people die as a consequence.

But until now all attempts to restrict smoking in public have come to nothing. The powerful state tobacco monopoly is very good at preventing effective anti-smoking measures from being implemented. Moreover, many smokers seem wary of state paternalism.

In this restaurant called Xiao Shancheng, which means Small Mountain Town, in Beijing's Guijie district, it smells of fried chilies and smoke. There aren’t any 'no smoking' signs to be seen.

The manager shrugs his shoulders and says he has not implemented the new guidelines. "Of course, if the ban is really implemented in restaurants then we will also have to go along with it," he says. "But if people continue to smoke in other bars and only we ban it then we will be shooting ourselves in the foot, won’t we?"

And that is the crux of the matter. The smoking ban has been announced by the authorities but not very loudly, and it has not been accompanied by a nationwide campaign.

It is yet another law or rule that the authorities have introduced but cannot implement. The health inspection institute has not been allotted enough staff to actually monitor whether the ban is being followed, and no fines or other forms of punishment have been discussed for those who violate the ban.

'You have to smoke in China'

One of the guests at the Xiao Shancheng restaurant can't imagine life without cigarettes – right next to his bowl of rice is an overflowing ashtray.

"You have to smoke in China," he insists. "It's part of daily life. If someone offers me a cigarette and I refuse, he will think I’m impolite and that I do not respect him."

As long as such attitudes exist and the smoking ban is a mere piece of paper, people all over China will continue to light up. The authorities seem to be able to forbid citizens from doing all sorts of things but not smoking apparently.

Author: Ruth Kirchner / act
Editor: Manasi Gopalakrishnan