What happens when you want to breathe clean air freely, but someone happens to be puffing away smoke next to you? In April, Mr. Zhang tried to persuade Mr. Xu not to smoke at the entrance of the Shanghai Disneyland restaurant. Mr. Xu thought that the other person's words were excessive and punched him hard. After police mediation, Mr. Xu apologized and compensated. A year ago, in 2025, there was a long queue at the security checkpoint at Shanghai Disneyland. A father came forward to argue with the smoker because his daughter was exposed to secondhand smoke in a stroller for three hours, and the two ended up fighting.
Every cigarette lit in public places becomes the beginning of harm and conflict.
Even in the city with the faintest smell of smoke, the place where every cigarette is lit will automatically occupy the territory. When you face the bullying of second-hand smoke, most of the time you can only hide, cover, endure, and hold it in. Once you speak out, you will be told that you are "ignorant" or "hypocritical" at best, or you will be yelled at, beaten, or bullied online.
Correspondingly, the control of smoking in public places has also been tightened in various places. Not long ago, the UK passed a bill that states that "people born on January 1, 2009 or later will not be able to legally purchase tobacco products for life." It became a hot topic.
What the hell is going on?
1. Second-hand smoke and third-hand smoke are depriving me of my freedom to breathe
Tobacco was originally a hallucinogen. For many years, cigarettes have been shaped as a stress-reducing, refreshing, social tool, a symbol of coolness, rebellion, freedom, sexiness, and a ticket to enter the adult world. However, the structural constraints of tobacco taxes and tobacco control policies have turned every cigarette into a dilemma that is difficult for individuals to escape.
Nicotine in tobacco is a highly addictive substance. According to the World Health Organization, smoke contains more than 7,000 chemical substances, 69 of which are strong carcinogens. More than 8 million people around the world lose their lives due to tobacco every year.
Currently, there are more than 300 million smokers in China. Even if you don’t smoke, the invisible harm of second-hand and third-hand smoke happens quietly every day. There is no so-called "safe level" of second-hand smoke exposure, even if you open windows for ventilation and use air filters, you cannot avoid it. Every year, more than 1 million people die from smoking-related diseases in China, and more than 100,000 people die from second-hand smoke. This number exceeds the number of deaths caused by tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria combined.
If you can get up and avoid or dissuade when faced with second-hand smoke, you are often unable to do anything when faced with third-hand smoke that is more subtle and lingers longer.
The three-stage dynamic process of third-hand smoke volatilization and its spectrum. (Photo/Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Research published in "Building and Environment" by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences at the end of 2025 has refreshed public understanding: so-called "third-hand smoke" is pollutants that remain adsorbed on walls, fabrics, furniture and other surfaces after tobacco smoke dissipates. They will undergo complex transformation and release, forming a long-term exposure source.
The poison caused by a single smoking can last for minutes, days or even months. Carcinogens such as nitrosamines caused by third-hand smoke settle on clothes and sofas, making every corner of the room a possible gas chamber. What’s even more frightening is that the nicotine content in babies from exposed families can be up to 50 times that of non-smoking families, which can cause DNA damage and increase the risk of lung cancer. Third-hand smoke is becoming one of the most serious types of indoor air pollution.
2. Which city in China has the weakest cigarette smell?
Speaking of which, Shenzhen can be regarded as a model student in tobacco control nationwide. In 2024, the smoking rate of people aged 15 and above in Shenzhen will be as low as 17.4%, which is far lower than the national average. It is one of the "cities with the weakest cigarette smell in China".
Smoking control sign at Shenzhen Baoan International Airport. (Photo/Shenzhen Health Commission)
According to the Shenzhen Evening News, the "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Regulations on Smoking Control" came into effect on March 1, 2014, stipulating that all indoor public places, workplaces, and public transportation are completely prohibited from smoking, starting a comprehensive war on tobacco control. In 2019, bus stations, subway entrances and exits, and e-cigarettes were also included in the ban on smoking. By 2022, the city will be fully smoke-free party and government agencies. In 2025, the country’s first local standards for the establishment of smoke-free venues will be launched.
Shenzhen Tobacco Control Map. (Picture/"Stop Smoking" Mini Program)
Shenzhen launched the "Stop Smoking" mini program, allowing every citizen to become a mobile "electronic eye", and set many domestic firsts: the first 30,000 yuan fine for minors selling cigarettes, the first 500 yuan fine for illegal smokers running away, the first time to add e-cigarettes to the no-smoking sign, the first pilot installation Installing "electronic eyes" for tobacco control...
"The Health Effects of Enforcement of Comprehensive Smoke-free Policy in Shenzhen" shows that in the first 2.7 years since the implementation of the tobacco control regulations in 2014, the risk of acute myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and hemorrhagic stroke in Shenzhen dropped by 6%, 6%, and 7% respectively, and the corresponding cases each decreased by more than 2,000.
Hong Kong tobacco control poster. (Photo/Hong Kong Department of Health)
Hong Kong has been the place with the longest life expectancy in the world for many years, and its tobacco control efforts are also very strong.
In order to create a "smoke-free city", Hong Kong banned smoking indoors in 2007, and the smoking rate has dropped from 23.3% in 1982 to 9.1% in 2023.
Hong Kong’s Tobacco Control Legislation (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 stipulates that starting from January 1, 2026, it is prohibited to smoke while queuing for public transportation or entering designated places such as hospitals, Disneyland, and Ocean Park. Violators will be fined HK$3,000. The no-smoking zone has been expanded to include bus stations, parks, and within 3 meters of entrances and exits of hospitals and schools.
Starting from April 30, Hong Kong prohibits anyone from possessing alternative smoking products (such as electronic cigarettes, herbal cigarettes and heated cigarettes) in public places. Even if they are only carried with them without smoking, they are still illegal. Once caught, the minimum fine is HK$3,000, and the maximum fine is HK$50,000 and imprisonment for 6 months. The Hong Kong Department of Health stated that there is no transition period for the new regulations, there is no "first-time offender exemption", and there are no exemptions for tourists.
Shanghai banned all indoor smoking in 2017. After years of efforts, the adult smoking rate has been reduced to 18.6%. In 2025, a "smoking control heat map" will be launched to facilitate citizens to report with one click.
Sichuan and Xinjiang also simultaneously announced on May 1 that they have entered a new era of tobacco control. Sichuan’s new regulations stipulate a complete ban on smoking in indoor public places. “The maximum fine for selling cigarettes to minors is 500,000 yuan.” Illegally produced e-cigarettes, tea cigarettes, and flower cigarettes will be “hit on sight”, focusing their firepower on cutting off the supply side. Xinjiang has added a flexible clause: "Reasonably avoid others when smoking in non-smoking places", trying to leverage social consensus at the lowest cost.
In recent years, the amount of fines for illegal smoking has generally ranged from 50 yuan to 200 yuan. The deterrent effect is limited. In addition, store owners are worried about affecting business and often turn a blind eye. Others also think that doing more is worse than doing less. Generally speaking, there is more persuasion and less punishment. In addition, smoking often occurs in the blink of an eye, and even if someone reports it, it will be difficult to verify and handle it.
3. Protect your right to breathe
Smoking is strictly prohibited in high-speed rail carriages, but the platform is a gray and fuzzy area. Every time I stopped, smoke rose instantly from the platform, causing people to cough.
(Picture/"Stop Smoking" applet)
For high-speed rail platforms, the rules for smoking control vary from place to place. As early as 7 years ago, Shenzhen, the "model for smoking control", banned smoking on high-speed rail platforms.
Similar contradictory situations not only appear on high-speed rail platforms, but also in countless daily spaces, such as bathrooms and escape ladders in many office buildings that are no-smoking areas, but there are still cigarette butts everywhere.
Some people silently dissuade someone by picking up cigarette butts. On April 21, netizen "Tititia" took a two-hour walk and picked up 500 cigarette butts. He received 46,000 likes on the social platform. "These cigarette butts have been discarded for a long time, and they still smell very pungent when they are 30 centimeters away from the nose." Most of the cigarette butts were dug out from the cement gaps next to the roots of the trees, and the most cigarette butts were dug out from under one tree. 35.
A lot of people looked at her along the way. Only a foreigner with a Southeast Asian appearance gave her a thumbs up and said "thank you". When passing by a coffee shop, there were people sitting at the door, smoke was filling, and dozens of cigarette butts were hidden under two trees.
The next day was Earth Day, and "Titia" continued to pick up cigarette butts at popular scenic spots. This time she picked up 350 cigarette butts. "You know how difficult it is to promote a ban on smoking in public places. Before it can be implemented, someone always needs to clean up the existing garbage first," she said. "Some people will say not to deal with the aftermath of smokers, but the cigarette butts on the ground will not disappear just because we don't pick them up. It will only continue to pollute the environment."
Stand-up comedian Zhang Hui expressed her resistance through laughter. She was known as the "smoke alarm" because she often discouraged colleagues from smoking in the corridors of her workplace. She found that many people had been treated as weirdos for discouraging smoking, and some even asked the dissuader out when they smoked indoors.
In 2025, Zhang Hui customized felt pendants with slogans discouraging smoking and anti-smoking theme mask peripheries in her personal talk show "Be Strong in Life". "Reject second-hand smoke bullying", "Right to breathe, my basic style" and "Discourage smoking, you are not alone" were printed on T-shirts and worn on young people. She used humor to turn tobacco control from a heavy public health issue into a statement that can be worn on the body, giving more people the courage to discourage smoking.
Ultimately, this is a battle about the right to breathe healthily. Smokers have their freedom, but this freedom should be based on the freedom not to hinder the healthy breathing of others. This should be a freedom confined to the smoking area.
Next time, when smoke comes, you don’t have to dodge, you don’t have to hand over the ashtray, you don’t have to say “whatever you want”.
You can firmly say "please don't smoke". Every time you express your stance, you are protecting your right to breathe.
Please remember: your lungs don’t have to be someone else’s ashtray.