The smoking gun I’m writing about in this post is complements of American tobacco companies earning huge profits in China. Isn’t the market-economy great?
Chinese child smoking
“Antismoking advocates often complain about smoking levels in Canada but our problems pale beside those of China, where it is estimated that 300 million people already smoke and more are being encouraged to do so by Western advertising. To its credit, the Chinese government is taking steps to discourage smoking as it prepares to host the 10th World Conference on Tobacco and Health in 1997. By 2025, smoking-related disease is expected to kill 2 million Chinese a year.” Source: CMAJ-JAMC
Big Tobacco in China
Yes, smoking is a problem in China. When we go out to eat, there will usually be people smoking in restaurants. In cities, we use the subways, and I haven’t seen or smelled anyone smoking there.
When we travel in China, we often stay in a Jinjiang Inn, a chain of reasonably priced, modern, clean hotels that serve a complimentary breakfast. There are hundreds of Jinjiang inns in most if not all of China’s major cities. This chain caters primarily to the Chinese middle class or Asian business people. Most foreign tourists stay in more expensive, upscale hotels. We prefer the Jinjiang Inn.
However, even when we request a smoke-free room or floor, we often will smell drifting cigarette smoke coming from other rooms.
Bob Grant talks about the Chinese smoking in his guest post.
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse 
iLook China 