Tobacco Road

Ask anyone who has traveled through China and I think one of the deepest impressions that will emerge is the prevalence of smoking. Smoking is very much a social activity as drinking is here in China. The vast majority of the smokers here in China are men.

There is very much a boys club in Chinese culture where men would gather socially. These gatherings could be among friends or business associates. Sometimes it is very hard to differentiate between friends and business associates. Smoking, like drinking is a bond that ties these social groups together. Offering another man cigarettes is a sign of friendship. It is common etiquette to see packs of zhong hua (中华)cigarettes place at each table of a Chinese wedding banquet. Zhong hua are the most expensive brand of cigarettes in China costing around 50 RMB (6.75USD) per pack compared to the common cigarettes costing between 3 to 7 RMB (.50USD-1.00USD). This is almost akin to men passing out cigars to friends to announce a child is expected in the family back in America.

Of course, once a man starts to smoke to get ahead socially he will carry that into his personal life. The result of that is you will see men smoking almost everywhere.

One of the most annoying thing for us here in China is the second hand smoke in restaurants. With very little laws that deals with smoking, restaurants are filled with smokers puffing away throughout their meal.

For the most part, the workplace is no sanctuary for a smoke free environment. In some offices like where my wife works, smoking is allowed after 5PM. She tells me that when she works overtime (which is often), over half of the office is puffing away.


I took the above picture in a men's room stall in an office building. As we can see China makes it very convenient for smokers to puff away even when they are in the crapper.