'This is China' no excuse for defying smoking ban
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I objected strenuously, and he said, "Right, it's a non-smoking pub but it's allowed outside." Since we were at the bar, as inside as you could get, this seemed a tad absurd. He resorted to the claim that while he was inside, the smoke was not, since he was exhaling and blowing it outdoors.
I understand the need to remain patient and respectful in China, but my nerves were severely tested during a recent visit to a local hospital to help a good friend who had just undergone a minor operation return home.
Everything seemed smooth and modern, but just as we were leaving the ward I smelt smoke. Pushing open a door to the stairs, I found a group of staff cheerfully smoking.
"It's okay to smoke here?" I asked them.
"Only staff, sorry, but there's a smoking room on the floor below," one told me.
"No, I mean, surely you can't smoke anywhere near a ward," I said.
"We're outside," he said.
"Only just, and this is a hospital," I replied.
"My friend, this is China, relax."
It was a response I heard echoed by many Chinese friends and colleagues when I asked them about the issue. They also told me "Chinese men smoke, always have, always will" and "Smoking is part of Chinese culture." I restrained myself from asking whether opium had been part of Chinese culture too, pre-1949.
Legislation enforcement is necessary but not sufficient. China desperately needs the establishment of moral and ethical values required to move toward a permanent change in attitudes to smoking.
Smokers need to think not only about their own privileges, but about the harm they're doing to those around them.
The author is a visiting professor in brand management at China Agriculture University and teaches marketing and management at Tsinghua University. opinion@globatimes.com.cn
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