Anti-smoking activism, especially by foreigners, has recently drawn attention on Chinese social media. A renewed online push to stop smoking in no-smoking areas highlights broader challenges of enforcing public smoking bans in a country where smoking remains prevalent.

From “smoking is prohibited in public spaces” (#公共场所禁止吸烟#) to “tobacco control” (#控烟#), anti-smoking hashtags have been popping up more frequently on Chinese social media. Many of them accompany videos from influencers who call out or try to stop people smoking where it’s not allowed.

Some of these influencers aren’t even Chinese.

In recent years, Chinese media reports and online discussions have fueled a perception among many netizens that foreigners in China often receive preferential treatment. In certain situations, this perception seems to hold true — perhaps linked to a belief among some officials that incidents involving foreigners are diplomatically sensitive and tied to China’s image. This can lead to extra caution or leniency in handling such cases, sometimes giving foreigners an unspoken advantage in public-facing services and spaces, from dormitories to restaurants.

Now, some netizens are suggesting that foreign residents use this “advantage” to report public smoking violations more actively.

A post on RedNote saying, “I hope every foreigner traveling to China will help complain about the problem of smoking in public spaces in China,” received many likes and thousands of comments.

Others even suggest that foreigners could quickly build their social media followings by posting such encounters, dubbing them “anti-smoking bloggers” or “smoking-dissuasion bloggers” (劝烟博主).

Foreign Influencers’ Anti-Smoking Efforts Go Viral

One of these anti-smoking foreign bloggers is Xiaohongshu blogger “Alibabame” (alibabame 艾伦, real name Malik X.). On July 30, he posted a video in which he asked two Chinese men to stop smoking in a restaurant with a prominent “No Smoking” sign, speaking mostly in English with some Mandarin phrases.

The exchange turned tense and turned into a verbal altercation, but the clip went viral — by 11 PM on August 1, it had attracted over 154,000 likes and 18,000 comments, his highest engagement rate to date according to Newrank data. His other most-viewed posts have also centered on smoking dissuasion.

Many of Alibabame’s videos focus on discouraging smoking in public.

In a follow-up video shared on August 1, Alibabame said local police had given him a surprising interpretation of the rules: if someone smokes in a no-smoking area but extinguishes the cigarette after being asked, they are not breaking the law. Many viewers expressed disbelief, with comment sections filled with criticism and calls for stricter enforcement.

From Online Clashes to Court Cases

These recent viral clips have turned a niche activist effort into a broader discussion about how China’s anti-smoking regulations are interpreted — and whether enforcement can match public expectations.

Shanghai, for instance, has comprehensive smoking control rules Indoor public venues, workplaces, and public transport — including e-cigarettes — are fully smoke-free, with individuals facing fines of 50–200 yuan (US$7-US$28) and establishments up to 30,000 yuan (US$4180) for failing to prevent smoking. Outdoor bans cover spaces for children and teenagers, medical facilities, sports and performance venues, heritage sites, and transit stops.

Violations can be reported via the Public Service Hotline 12345 or other hotlines.

Earlier this year, Shanghai also became the first mainland city to target “wandering smoking (游烟)” control measures, banning smoking while walking in outdoor queues, sidewalks, and at popular spots such as the Bund and Wukang Road. Offenders face fines of up to 200 yuan ($28).

Despite these measures, ensuring smoke-free environments remains a problem in Shanghai and across other mainland cities.

Recent high-profile cases illustrate the difficulties. On July 3, Renwu magazine (人物) published an article titled “The ‘Lin Zexu of Universities’ and the War Against Secondhand Smoke” (“高校“林则徐”与二手烟的战争“), profiling Shang Mengmeng (尚萌萌), a Beijing film school graduate student with extreme nicotine sensitivity. After leaving jobs due to smoke exposure, he hoped campus life would be different, only to encounter smoking indoors, even in elevators and classrooms. Since March, Shang has filed about 120 complaints using cigarette butts and ash as evidence, earning him the nickname “Modern Lin Zexu” — referencing the Qing Dynasty official famed for his anti-opium stance.

Supporters praise his persistence, but Shang has also faced backlash from smokers accusing him of “extremism,” and even some non-smokers questioning his approach. Shang maintains he is not against smoking itself, only against smoking in prohibited areas, framing it as a matter of personal freedom versus public health rights.

On June 28, 2025, the Shenzhen Health Commission published an article titled “Secondhand Smoke Is Actually a Form of Bullying” (Image: Shenzhen Health Commission WeChat account).

Another case, reported by Southern People Weekly (南方人物周刊) on July 27, follows Jin Lanlan (金烂烂), a young woman assaulted in a mall after asking a man to stop smoking. On November 11, 2024, Jin confronted Tang, who responded with verbal abuse and a kick. Police fined Tang 200 yuan ($28), but he refused to apologize or compensate, prompting Jin to sue.

At a July 22 court hearing, Tang’s lawyer rejected all demands. Jin, who experienced secondhand smoke-induced vomiting as a child and left art school due to teachers smoking indoors, sees her actions as defending her legal rights. While some hail her as a “fighter,” others — including her own mother, who speaks of her “making trouble” — question her persistence.

The Road Ahead for Smoking Control in China

These court cases, along with the online discussions around the videos of foreign influencer ‘Alibabame,’ reveal long-standing obstacles to public smoking control on the mainland.

➤ Generational divides play a role: younger people are generally more aware of secondhand smoke risks, while some older smokers see it as a personal choice. Smoking also remains embedded in social customs, such as offering cigarettes at business or family gatherings.

➤ Misunderstandings about “freedom” and “rights” compound the problem, with some smokers prioritizing personal choice over non-smokers’ health rights, and many non-smokers staying silent to avoid further conflict.

➤ Enforcement is another weak point. Responsibility is split among multiple agencies, creating gaps in oversight. In smaller cities and rural areas, limited resources make it harder to police high-risk venues like restaurants and internet cafés. Low fines — as little as 50 yuan (US$7) in some places — do little to deter violations.

Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan provide contrasting examples, with much higher on-the-spot fines — HKD1,500 (US$190), MOP1,500 (US$186), and NTD2,000–10,000 (US$62–310) respectively — and dedicated enforcement bodies such as Hong Kong’s Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office.

As more mainland residents speak out, calls for stricter enforcement are growing. Some netizens have even urged Alibabame to involve international media like The New York Times to pressure authorities, but he has declined, stressing that this is a domestic issue and expressing confidence that Chinese authorities will act.

Whether this wave of public attention will push Shanghai toward tougher enforcement, and whether similar measures could spread to other mainland cities, remains uncertain.

What is certain is that smoking control will be a long-term challenge in China, requiring stronger enforcement, higher penalties, and, perhaps most crucially, a cultural shift that prioritizes clean air for non-smokers as much as the “freedom” of smokers.

Meanwhile, Alibabame’s follower count is climbing — he gained over 79,200 new followers since his viral video. His popularity suggests growing online support for smoking-dissuasion influencers, both foreign and Chinese, who are taking a stand for smoke-free public spaces.

Also Read:

• Zhang Yue, “China’s First Anti-Smoking Campaigner” (“中国第一反烟人”)
• Social Media Blows Up over Chinese Teen Celebrity Roy Wang Smoking in Beijing Restaurant

 
By Wendy Huang
Edited by Manya Koetse

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These days have been filled with tension and anger in the city of Jiangyou (江油市), Sichuan, after a rare, large-scale protest broke out following public outrage over a severe bullying incident and how it was handled.

The bullying incident at the center of this story happened outside school premises in Mianyang on the afternoon of July 22. Footage of the assault, recorded by bystanders at the scene, began circulating widely online on August 2, sparking widespread outrage among concerned netizens, many of them worried parents.

The violent altercation involved three girls between the ages of 13 and 15 who ganged up on another minor, a 14-year-old girl named Lai (赖).

After Lai and a 15-year-old girl named Liu (刘) reportedly had a dispute, Liu gathered two of her friends—the 13-year-old also named Liu (刘) and a 14-year-old named Peng (彭)—to gang up on Lai.

The three underage girls lured Lai to an abandoned building, where they subjected her to hours of verbal and physical violence. The footage showed how they took turns in kicking, slapping, and pushing her.

At one point, after Lai said she would call the police, one of the bullies yelled: “You think we’re scared of you? It’s not like we haven’t been to jail before. I’ve been in more than ten times—it doesn’t even take 20 minutes to get out” (“你以为我们会怕你吗？又不是没进去过，我都进去十多次了，没二十分钟就出来了”).

That same night, the incident was reported to police. It took authorities until August 2 to bring in all involved parties for questioning, and a police report was issued on the morning of Monday, August 4.

Police report by Jiangyou Public Security Bureau, confirming the details of the incident and the (legal) consequences for the attackers.

Two of the girls (the 15- and 14-year-old) were given administrative penalties and will be sent to a specialized correctional school. The younger Liu and other bystanders were formally reprimanded.

 
“Parents Speak Out for the Bullied Girl”
 

The way the incident was handled—not just the relatively late official report, but mostly the perceived lenient punishment—triggered anger online.

Many people who had seen the video responded emotionally and felt that the underage girls should be stripped of their rights to take their exams, and that the bullying incident should forever haunt them in the same way it will undoubtedly haunt their victim.

Especially the phrase “It’s not like I haven’t been taken in [to jail] before” struck a chord, as it showed just how calculated the bullies were—and how, by counting on the leniency of the Chinese judicial system for minors, they made the system complicit in their determination to turn those hours into a living hell for Lai.

China has been dealing with an epidemic of school violence for years. In 2016, Chinese netizens were already urging authorities to address the problem of extreme bullying in schools, partly because minors under the age of 16 rarely face criminal punishment for their actions.

Since 2021, children between the ages of 12 and 14 can be held criminally responsible for extreme and cruel cases resulting in death or disability—but their legal prosecution must first be approved by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP).

It has not done much to stop the violence.

Discussions around extreme bullying like this have repeatedly flared up over the years, such as in 2020, when a 15-year-old schoolboy named Yuan (袁) in Shaanxi was fatally beaten and buried by a group of minors.

Last year, a young boy named Wang Ziyao (王子耀) was killed by three classmates after suffering years of bullying. His body was found in a greenhouse just 100 meters from the home of one of the suspects, and the case shocked and enraged local residents.

But the problem is widespread among girls, too.

In 2016, we already reported on how so-called ‘campus violence videos’ (校园暴力视频) had become a concerning trend. In these kinds of videos—often showing multiple bullies beating up a single victim on camera—it’s not uncommon to see girls as the aggressors.

Girls often form cliques to gang up on a victim to show that they are in control or to gain popularity. They also tend to be more inclined than boys to make cruel jokes or stage pranks meant to embarrass or humiliate their target. This may partly explain why there seem to be more campus violence videos on Chinese social media showing girls bullying girls than boys bullying boys.

In the case of Lai, she appears to have been particularly vulnerable. One of her relatives posted online that her mother is deaf and mute, and her father allegedly is disabled. This fact may have contributed to why Lai was repeatedly targeted and bullied by the same group of girls, who reportedly took away her phone and socially isolated her at school.

In response to the incident, netizens started posting the hashtag “Parents Speak Up for the Bullied Girl” (“#家长们为被霸凌女孩发声#), not only to support Lai and her family, but to demand harsher punishments for school bullies and for stricter crackdown on this nationwide problem.

 
From Online Anger to Offline Protest
 

While many people spoke out for Lai online, hundreds also wanted to show up for her in person.

On August 4, dozens of people gathered in front of the Jiangyou Municipal Government building (江油市人民政府) to demand justice and support Lai’s parents, who had come to express their grievances to the authorities—at one point even bowing to the ground in a plea for justice to be served for their daughter.

Footage and images circulating on social media showing the parents of Lai, the victim, bowing on the ground to demand justice from authorities.

As the crowd grew larger, tensions escalated, eventually leading to clashes between protesters and police.

The arrests at the scene did little to ease the situation. As night fell, the mood grew increasingly grim, and some protesters began throwing objects at the police.

Images of the protest, posted on Weibo.

Near the east section of Shixian Road (诗仙路东段), more people gathered. Hundreds of individuals filming and livestreaming captured footage of the police crackdown—officers beating protesters, dragging them away, and deploying pepper spray.

Netizens’ digital artwork about the bullying incident, the parents’ grievances, and the public protest and its crackdown in Jiangyou. Shared by 程Clarence.

Although the protests briefly gained traction on social media and became a trending topic on Weibo, the search term was soon removed from the platform’s trending list.

 
Lasting Mental Scars
 

On Tuesday, August 5, several topics related to the Jiangyou bullying incident began trending again on Chinese social media.

On the short video app Kuaishou, a collective demand for justice surged to the number one spot, under the tag “A large number of Jiangyou parents demand justice for the victim” (江油大批家长为受害学生讨公道).

As of now, none of the perpetrators’ families have come forward to apologize.

As for Lai—according to the latest reports, she did not suffer serious physical injuries from the bullying incident, but according to her own parents, the mental scars will last. She will need continued mental health support and counseling going forward.

Although many posts about the incident and the ensuing protests have been taken offline, ‘Jiangyou’s Bullying Incident’ has already become one more case in the growing list of brutal school bullying incidents that have surfaced on Chinese social media in recent years. The heat of local anger may fade over time, but the rising number of such cases continues to fuel public frustration nationwide—especially if local authorities fail to do more to address and prevent school bullying.

“Not being able to protect our children, that’s a disgrace to our schools and the police,” one commenter wrote: “I want to thank all those mothers who have raised their voices for the bullied child. Each of us must say no to bullies, and we must do all we can to stop them. I hope the lawmakers agree.”

By Manya Koetse

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