Jump to full article: China Daily (cn), 2009-08-07
Author: Shan Juan (China Daily
Intro: For someone who puffed through two packs of cigarettes a day for the past seven years, Yuan Jian had a trying time during the Beijing Games.
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"The post-Olympic smoking ban seems to be only on paper," said Yang Jie, deputy director of the anti-smoking office under the Chinese Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is closely connected to the Ministry of Health.
"Enforcement of the smoking ban at many public places is not as strict as before."
"I can see ashtrays on restaurant tables in non-smoking areas, with people smoking there," said Wang Lu, a college teacher in Beijing.
"The owners of such restaurants won't stop people from lighting up unless you ask them to. They don't seem to care much about the smoking ban now," Wang said. . . .
Anti-smoking volunteers also left the scene gradually when the Beijing Games concluded, he said.
Undaunted, the Ministry of Health continues to take steps to curb smoking. Most recently, it launched an anti-smoking initiative with the China Medical Board and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to build smoke-free campuses and smoke-free hospitals, as well as to improve hospital services for those interesting in kicking the habit.
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