Smoking Rules

Good idea, right?

CUHK's main campus in Sha Tin is a smoke-free campus. There is no smoking allowed in the dorms, outside the dorms, outside the classrooms, etc. Smoking is not permitted in designated areas because there are no designated areas. Downtown in Admiralty, there is no outdoor area which belongs to the campus so, of course, there is no smoking permitted in the law school.

Sometimes in a pub, older Chinese people still light up. I was told that Hong Kong only went smoke free in bars and restauarants a few months ago and some people have not fully internalized the rule and the adjoining behavior modification. Without making too much of a fuss, they are always reminded of the rule and things return to a state of compliance pretty quickly.

I am thankful for this rule. Hong Kong is very crowded in every way and I can hardly imagine going to some of the bars, pubs, & clubs that I've been to if smoking were permitted. For example, I was at a popular lounge on Friday night that was literally bursting at the seems - people were standing in the doorway of the main entrance and the hallway to the bathroom. A thick crowd in a tiny boite suited the 1920's Paris theme pretty well and a cloud of smoke might have completed the picture, but I think it would have made an otherwise enjoyable experience pretty miserable.