We already know that absolutely everything is already banned in China, including: foreign cat videos, networks of people having more fun than you, Western religious music, indoor smoking, console videogames, time travel, siblings, blue tree-worshipping cat people, Miley Cyrus, English usage in the media, pajamas in public, U.S. pork (since lifted), Bjork, and the employment of strippers at funerals. more ›

Did anyone notice? As previously promised, smoking is - as of Sunday - now banned in almost all public indoor spaces, including in hotels, restaurants, theaters and public transport waiting rooms. Non-smokers in offices and factories are still out of luck, as those count as private enough to not fall under the new law. Anyhow, even if it's not enforced right away (or it takes nearly a year for anyone to get any type of fine), it's a notable first step in a less smoky future for this country and may help lower the astonishing 3000 deaths from smoking a day rate we currently have. more ›

If you've been reading Shanghaiist for a while, you'll probably have seen some of the smoking baby videos we've posted on here. Behind the Wall points us to yet another of these videos that has popped up recently, igniting another round of debate on smoking. In this video, two young boys are seen puffing away on cigarettes on a moving train, but unfortunately, there's no information on where the train was headed, where these kids are from, and who their parents are.
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A year after the smoking ban was supposedly introduced here in Shanghai, the national government has decided to make a similar China-wide smoking ban in all cities and towns. The ban will prohibit smoking in public places, including on buses and in restaurants and bars. more ›

Lollipops for cigarettes seems like an odd exchange, but Shanghai Children’s Medical Center is hoping that sugar hungry children will help their huffing parents to quit, thereby reducing the number of youth exposed to secondhand smoke. more ›

Update on Shanghai's smoking crackdown: It took three months for the smoking ban to nab one establishment. Now, according to Xinmin, that number has risen to 66 as of June 30. Another 1,345 were given a warning. Unfortunately, that's hardly... well, anything. There's probably 66 stores in one section of a street here in Shanghai. But officials insist that the overall smoking rate in the city has gone down. Stats collected by their team of anti-smoke regulating volunteers found that the smoking rate at banned locations dropped to 28.1% from 37.5%, while incidences where people were discouraged from smoking went from 19% to 51.9%. more ›

The city's first smoking ban, which we followed from the time it was a wee bit of an idea to when it began being enforced against certain (underage) people, has officially taken effect for everyone today. The new law gives those who smoke in public places fines from 50RMB to 200RMB. more ›

Who would've thought that the most populous city of a nation that contains one-third of the world’s smokers would have people proposing public area smoking bans so sweeping it even makes us gag? Yet another advocate has come out of the woodwork to join the growing call for a comprehensive smoking ban in Shanghai’s restaurants, pubs... and even individual rooms in karaoke bars. more ›

You know our opinion on the smoking bans that the Shanghai government is thinking about putting into place (and if you don't, it's basically this: Ban it! We love going home not reeking of ciggs and no, we don't particularly care that forcing smokers to suck on their deathsticks outdoors inconveniences them), but you now get to state your own, and not just in our comments section! Shanghai lawmakers will be holding a hearing on September 21 to mull over the opinions of residents before they place the final touches on the legislation. Only twenty city residents will be allowed to attend the hearing, but expats are welcome to apply for a seat. Applications will be accepted til next Tuesday - either call 6358-6499 or log onto either www.spcsc.sh.cn or www.eastday.com and give them a piece of your mind. Source: Shanghai Daily more ›

Giving its admittedly lame smoking law some more teeth, city legislators have served up a new draft legislation called the "Shanghai public tobacco control law" that would actually begin fining individuals for taking drags in prohibited locations. more ›

Those of you smokers hoping to quit healthily using those newfangled electronic cigarettes coming out of China as a crutch... Sorry - turns out that they're just as bad as the real thing, just in a different way. more ›

Old habits die hard, but when Shanghai says "No" to smoking, it ain't playin'. Organizers of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 have returned a $29.3 million sponsorship from Shanghai Tobacco after they felt it clashed with the Expo's "living healthier" image. more ›

The anti-smoking campaigns have begun! Well... at least they've begun in Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport, which just enacted a new smoking ban in all restaurants, toilets, offices and other public spaces inside the terminals. The enforcement is pretty stringent too - any business contaminated with evidence of cigarette smoking, such as the smell of smoke or wayward butts, will be fined upwards of 1000RMB. Now the only place to take a drag will be one of the five specially ventilated smoking rooms after the security check-in. Apparently, you're still allowed to puff away at the Pudong International Airport... for now. Source: Shanghai Daily more ›

We thought we'd have another two years before the smoking laws came into effect, but it now looks like Shanghai's ready to ban cigarettes from public places - indoor venues, public transport and work areas - by January 2010. They're even discussing a penalty this time around! Officials say the law will help make the Expo smoke-free when it starts five months after... and since it's attached to the Expo, you can bet people will be enforcing this with maybe slightly more gusto than previous attempts to wipe out the cancer sticks. Still... it IS China. What will officials use as the go to way of establishing guanxi after? Lollipops? Source: Shanghai Daily more ›

Shanghai lawmakers are taking Chinese tobacco giant Chung Hwa to task for its ubiquitous billboard ads that carry the four Chinese characters “爱我中华“ (Ai Wo Zhonghua, or "Loving my China"), and feature an image of the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, along with the warning that "Smoking can damage your health". Zhonghua (or Chung Hwa in Wade-Giles) refers to China and the Shanghai Tobacco Corporation which produces the Chung Hwa brand, has maintained that its slogan "promoted patriotism and was therefore a public service campaign". City lawmakers, however, are not buying the argument and are now calling for all tobacco ads to be "banned in line with the law". more ›

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here). more ›