Puffing on patriotism

In a tobacco museum in Shanghai, a group of teenagers are looking up at a picture of Lu Xun.

In the portrait, the literary great is holding a cigarette and smoke rings rise in front of his gaunt face.

The novelist, who died from lung problems in 1936, is very familiar to teenagers throughout the nation, as his works are among the most anthologized in primary and high school textbooks.

"Tobacco always accompanied Lu Xun during hard days," reads the note at the foot of the picture.

Depictions of many of China's greatest luminaries can be found in the China Tobacco Museum, almost all of them puffing on cigarettes or holding cigarette boxes.

"The great works, theories and leadership of these luminaries often have much to do with tobacco," reads a golden board in the museum.

Established in 2004 under the sponsorship of the tobacco industry, the world's largest tobacco museum is located next to the Shanghai Tobacco Factory and the offices of the Shanghai Tobacco Monopoly Administration.

Since 2006, the museum has seen a soaring number of student visitors almost every summer.

It received hundreds of students every day during a campaign co-hosted by the museum and the Yangpu district's publicity department and education bureau in the summer of 2006, China Tobacco reported.

In early July, the museum was awarded with honorary titles as "patriotic education demonstration base," "science education demonstration base," and "juvenile education advanced unit."

Marketing tool

A survey conducted by the School of Public Health at Fudan University showed that the museum was a marketing tool for the tobacco industry.

According to the survey results, 83.1 percent of the 59 college students that had been persuaded to visit the museum thought smoking was very detrimental to human health before the tour, but the percentage dropped to 49.2 percent afterward.

The 59 college students included 23 undergraduates, 29 graduates, and seven doctors of different majors. Of the group, 93.2 percent were non-smokers.

The number of students who believed they would never smoke in the future decreased from 82.1 percent to 75 percent, according to the survey. After the tour, 23.7 percent believed the tobacco industry was interested in public welfare, which was a sharp contrast to the mere 6.8 percent before the visit.

"The museum weakens visitors' awareness of the dangers of smoking, results in a more positive attitude toward tobacco, and increases the likelihood they will smoke in the future," said Zheng Pinpin, one of the professors who conducted the survey.

"This change of attitude may further amplify the danger of tobacco," she added.

An anonymous employee from the China Tobacco Museum told the Global Times "facts speak louder than words" and abruptly hung up the phone. The number later rang unanswered.

In an e-mail to the Global Times on Thursday, the publicity department of the Shanghai municipal committee of the CPC extolled the virtues of the museum in promoting patriotic education, but said they have urged the museum to present more information on the health risks of smoking and update related information. They are also instructing the museum to pay particular attention to how they educate different groups of people, particularly younger visitors.

It is not the only museum of this kind in China, other museums like this operate around the country, often hosting visits from school students.

Misleading information

One of the respondents named Ge Xin, a second-year graduate student from the School of Public Health at Fudan University, told the Global Times only a small part of the museum was devoted to knowledge of the effects of smoking tobacco, and most of the information was misleading.

"All of the information on the danger of tobacco was outdated, and most of it had already been proven false by modern science," she said.

In contrast, a diagram of skyrocketing revenue from tobacco taxes was updated in 2011, and was placed at the most eye-catching position in the museum, according to Ge.

One poster cited a 1948 report from The Journal of the American Medical Association, saying that psychologically speaking, tobacco could relieve mental tension.

Another poster presented an outdated research finding that smoking could prevent or lower the risk of cancers that affect the uterus, according to Ge. But she could find no information on the health risks of tobacco that have been proven by modern science.

After visiting the museum, she suggested that she knew little more than what she already knew about the dangers of smoking.

Frustrated efforts

The honorary titles of the museum have sparked heated criticism from tobacco control campaigners, lawyers, college professors and Web users.

The Chinese Association of Tobacco Control (CATC) sent an official letter to the Shanghai authorities last month, demanding that these honorary titles to be revoked, according to a CATC official.

"The message that tobacco leads to success and greatness is very dangerous for juveniles, whose minds have not yet matured and who are keen to imitate their idols," Suo Chao, a CATC spokesperson , told the Global Times.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco. More than 1 million people die each year of smoking-related diseases, and the number may exceed 3 million by 2050 if left unchecked.

"How can such an industry be connected with patriotic education?" Wu Yiqun, a deputy director with the Think-Tank for Health Development, asked. "It's ridiculous!"

"The museum is advertising tobacco under the guise of science and patriotic education," said Wu.

Smoking control campaigners often feel frustrated when confronting powerful tobacco enterprises.

Wu's team had not received any replies after they sent four official letters on tobacco control in recent years to the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, the authority in charge of China's tobacco control, which is also China's biggest tobacco company.

The government's revenue from tobacco taxes topped 600 billion yuan in 2011, increasing by 22 percent year-on-year, CCTV reported.

"Although the voice of smoking control organizations has become louder in recent years, it will always remain weak as long as tobacco control and production are under the control of the same authorities," Wu said.