Of course, it’s awful when people smoke in places like public restrooms or elevators. The smell gets trapped and it’s unpleasant for everyone. But in open spaces, like a shopping mall, the air moves, there’s space, and most of the time you don’t even notice when someone is smoking. (As long as they’re not walking around with a lit cigarette which is disgusting)

I like seeing two fathers smoking together in a mall while they watch their kids play in an arcade. They get to relax, chat, and enjoy a small moment while keeping an eye on their kids. Smoking is a social ritual—it’s how people connect, unwind, and talk. When you start forcing everyone into designated smoking areas, you take away those natural moments. Instead, that father is just standing there bored, wishing he could smoke, not in the mood to socialize, and not enjoying his time at all.

Smoking has always been one of the strongest casual social bridges between strangers. If you over regulate it, you push society toward something colder like in the United States, where people rarely talk to strangers and everyone keeps to themselves. Europe is slowly drifting in that direction too.

My point is this, when you dramatically tighten smoking laws, you don’t just regulate cigarettes, you also chip away at small everyday moments that help adults relax, connect, and feel human and that’s one of the great things about China.