For all the right reasons Beijing will implement smoking bans in public places. This to include bars and restaurants. It is not mentioned in the proposal how this will be enforced.

I have conflicting interests. I have never put a cigarette in my mouth; of any kind. I have lived most of my life in clean environments with fresh winds and wild views. Suddenly it seemed I moved to a city. In my mind it is big and sprawling but those around me apologise, saying it is just a small one. But they tell me the rare breezes set off from the mountains of Tibet and not from spluttering Beijing or the Gobi. For arguments sake allow me to be deceived sometimes. You might be led to surmise i do not dwell in Chengdu nor Kunming. Coming from a village of 300 that would be a jungle or two too far.

My dilemma? I sell beers and wines and spirits. My whole livelihood comes from working for myself. I am not pampered anymore by a school or college. In fact I've been self-employed for 24 years with just a 2 year break while I adjusted to my now 7+ year sojourn in China.

The Chinese smoke. They smoke a lot. In fact they are not only the number one country of smokers percentage-wise but each smoker smokes more on average than in any other country. Their cigarettes of choice are also less clean ( is a 'clean' cigarette an oxymoron? ) and with more heavy metals etc. in them. They also seem to all smoke in pubs and bars. Okay, I installed expensive air purifiers in my pub/bars. We have good a/c. We even empty half-full ashtrays. Was this for my customers' or for my own health? International brand too and guaranteed to each filter 70m3 per hour...... but. They only help rather than succeed when we are packed.

" Smoking ban in British Pubs" sounded like a death knell. It also made the doorways look less inviting with gangs of draggers loitering about.

Now my question is: will this affect my business? My initial thoughts have been that it will get universally ignored. Yes, I can see some ex-pats tapping smokers and pointing with disdain at the signs and regailing those who laugh back.They just might allow corners for smokers so the uniformed health inspectors ( yes, they abound and do their job with [malice aforethought?] gusto. Their white buses even say Health Inspector on them in English !).

At first I was pensive about this but after a few seconds of deep pondering I am of the conclusion that for some time at least the ban will not affect the way of traditional life at most bars and pubs. After all in a democratic country the majority should rule.... shouldn't it?

China is not a democracy. Should they take enforcement of this law seriously, then police will have their hands full. Take the vehemence with which they punished drunk drivers even in cities like BJ and SH. 15 days detention and huge fines, rich or poor. I surely hope, though, that the ban works. Passive smoking makes me dizzy, and there are certainly better ways of exercising personal freedom than lighting up when- and wherever you want.

The model used in UK is to fine the bar owner. This way the bar owners have to do the policing, as there is always someone who will report you in UK.

The smoking ban decimated the pub industry in UK, as it was already weak from high tax on booze and low price beer at the supermarket.

We shall have to see how it pans out. But some laws prove to be unenforceable here and are dropped by popular demand. Remember the thing with registering the ebikes a couple of years ago? That was unworkable and was dropped.

Remember how all the window cages were going to be ripped off by the end of 2010?

and remember how there was going to be a smoking ban from 2011 January 1?

on a connected note, does this explain why Camel Bar hasn't done anything about their poor ventilation?

The smoke keeps flies, mosquitos, hedgehogs and other nuisance critters out.

Dan... thanks for the advice. Living up on the 26th floor the bugs can't get past the bats and swallows. Nor can the roaches. But this plague of hedgepigs you mention has been getting out of hand lately. They can't reach the lift buttons ( by the way these harbour more germs than most things away from public toilets: not the hogs: the buttons) so they must be scootling up the 480 steps. Now they are nesting everywhere and frightening our Turkish white cat. So I delight in having an answer. I shall scoop up several cubic metres of nauseous smoke from my pubs and bring it home in black rubbish sacks ( the kind we lived in on the middle of the motorway when I were a lad). I shall waft the room and open the balcony doors. Can hogs fly?

As long as smoking is legal I have ambivalent feelings towards banning it in public places (hospitals, government buildings, schools are of course fine). If a bar, club or restaurant want to ban smoking it should be it's own choice. Patrons can choose where they want to go and if the smoke is unbearable, well, then they can go somewhere else, or at least weigh it up against the other reasons they visit a place.

Although second hand smoke is dangerous if you live with a chain smoker, I think the danger is negliable if you go to a bar or a restaurant a handful of times a month. Ever been to a club that bans smoking? The smell is unbelievable.

If our governments really wants to do something about smoking, they ought to ban the whole thing outright. There is no doubt that if the cigarette was invented today it would be banned immediately, but of course the revenue from taxation is not easily replaced.

I smoke to retaliate against public toilets and other offensive body odors (maybe including my own)...and mostly - to retaliate against other smokers...my silent protest...oh and it keeps the bugs away - they chase after the non-smokers.

Really? I smoke and I'm a friggin mosquito magnet.