Foodies get anti-smoke app

An environmental NGO said Monday it is seeking partners to promote its new app and website which identify non-smoking restaurants and cafes in the capital.

"We want to cooperate with [entertainment website] dianping.com, which has a lot of users, to promote our smoke-free restaurant services. We want a smoke-free medal attached to the restaurants' names on the website, and we'd also like to gather all those smoke-free restaurants together to form a brand," said Wang Qiuxia, from Green Beagle.

The NGO spent seven months researching more than 10,000 Beijing restaurants, and discovered over 800 smoke-free restaurants before the app and website were launched in September.

"Our volunteers telephoned all the restaurants, asking whether they can dine there if they have a friend who smokes. We recorded those restaurants which responded absolutely "not," said Wang.

Wang said they randomly chose five percent of the establishments, which included chains like Starbucks, and Chinese restaurants such as Green T. House and DinTaiFung, to do field research.

"We compared the telephone results with the field test results, and it showed the telephone outcomes were convincing," said Wang.

The Ministry of Health issued a regulation ordering a ban on smoking in all indoor public spaces, which took effect on May 1, 2011, however restaurants, especially smaller ones, have struggled to enforce the ban.

Li Fu, manager of Huatian Yanji Cold Noodle Restaurant chain, said it is impossible for them to achieve 100 percent smoke-free standards.

"We often try to persuade smokers in restaurants not to do so, but it depends what kind of customers we're dealing with," said Li.

If the smokers are reasonable, they will listen, said Li.　

"But some call you names and make trouble. We can't force the customers to obey the rule, so we often ignore them," he noted.

If other customers complain, Li said they will try to seat them away from the smokers.

Yang Gonghuan, deputy director of the Chinese Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, said that restaurants should take responsibility if they fail to stop smokers.

"The customers should be persuaded to give up smoking in restaurants. If the restaurant fails to do so, they will be fined. And the restaurants need to report the violation to the Beijing Patriotic Health Campaign," said Yang.

Restaurants can be fined from 5,000-10,000 yuan ($1,606) for violating the ban, the Beijing Times reported in March.