The movement towards making tourist areas smoke-free is accelerating in China's tourism industry. In June, social organizations supervised by the National Health Commission of China and others jointly announced the "Proposal for Creating New Experiences in 'Smoke-Free Cultural Tourism'." It calls on tourism operators to implement comprehensive indoor smoking bans, appropriately set up outdoor smoking areas, and incorporate smoke-free initiatives into industry evaluation standards.

To date, 24 provinces and 254 cities in China have enacted smoking control regulations, but these primarily focus on indoor facilities. Meanwhile, many tourist attractions are outdoors, with the majority falling outside statutory smoke-free zones. In these areas, there are many operators, tourists come from diverse origins, and smoking behavior occurs instantaneously, making it difficult to stop smoking or collect evidence, and the authority and responsibility for law enforcement are often unclear, presenting numerous challenges for anti-smoking measures.

Shanghai was one of the first cities in China to implement smoking control regulations, and in recent years, it has expanded restrictions to include outdoor walking and smoking. Currently, relevant authorities in Shanghai are focusing on 21 busy landmarks (such as The Bund, Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, and Xintiandi), which attract both domestic and international tourists, designating them as key management areas.

At the same time, major theme parks in Shanghai are responding to this, launching "smoke-free theme park" initiatives. Shanghai Legoland, which opened last summer, became the first theme park in China without designated smoking areas. Shanghai Disneyland also abolished 24 smoking areas, reducing their number to about half of the previous total.

As these areas are still outside statutory smoke-free zones, the government adopts flexible management methods, primarily relying on the self-management of each facility. According to Shanghai Legoland, for visitors who continue to smoke despite warnings, if they do not comply after multiple warnings, they will be blacklisted and prohibited from future entry. (Provided by/CGTN Japanese)