Jump to full article: China Daily (cn), 2009-06-26
Author: Mark Hughes (China Daily
Intro: I have a confession to make. Ten years after giving up smoking I have started the wretched habit again. And it's not just the occasional puff. Rather, it's the full-on 15-a-day craving-led nicotine addiction that I swore blind to rid myself of forever a decade ago.
I kept my promise faithfully for more than 3,600 days so why did I relapse? Why have I gone back to almost kippering myself on a daily basis when just a few weeks ago I found the smell chokingly repugnant?
Quite simply, Beijing seduced me like a sexy siren.
Within one week of stepping off the plane, I tentatively, guiltily accepted the offer of a splendidly-branded Craven A from a colleague after watching him inhale with an almost beatific look of pleasure following a fine meal washed down with plenty of thirst-quenching beer. I must admit when I lit up it felt good. It was as if I had breathed new life into the ghost of my old addiction. . . .
discovering how incredibly cheap they are here. My chosen brand cost 5 yuan. Back home in the UK they are more than 10 times that. Only a serious addict would fork out so much at that price.
Then there is the near ubiquitous tolerance of smoking here. . . .
In London, I didn't smoke at home because I had young children. A smoking ban in bars and restaurants was rigidly enforced. At work you had to leave the office . . .
However, the government, despite receiving mountains of excise revenue from the habit, has been trying to discourage it.
Smoking is banned inside all public buildings in Beijing. Just this week, it was announced the government had raised consumption tax on cigarettes by between 6 and 11 percent both to curb smoking and add revenue to state coffers.
But there has not yet been a seismic shift in society's laissez-faire attitude to smokers and smoking and, until there is, it is a habit that will not be stubbed out.
Now, excuse me, sucker that I am, while I nip out to satisfy my craving.
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