www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
Lifestyle

Why my dreams of quitting always go up in smoke

By Eric Nilsson ( China Daily ) Updated: 2008-12-09 09:52:45

Why my dreams of quitting always go up in smoke

Many expats say China is a smoker's heaven and a quitter's hell. A halo of smoke hovers above most friendly male-to-male interactions, and sometimes, refusing to light up can damn a guest to a most undesirable loss of face.

Packets of cigarettes are common gifts for participants of fangwen (official visits), and hosts are particularly keen to load up out-of-town visitors with local brands.

I was recently on a fangwen, along with a non-smoker, who found it impossible to refuse a gift of top-brand cigarettes. The VIPs handed them over with a grin and a nod.

My poor pink-lunged friend accepted the offerings with a reciprocal smile and a dip of the chin, and puffed away.

He later lamented: "You can't get away with not smoking in certain circles in China." It's the exact opposite in the United States, where you can't get away with smoking in certain circles.

An American friend, who lives in San Diego, told me recently she quit because she found herself always looking for an excuse to get out of social situations to get that nicotine fix.

According to 2007 figures from the World Health Organization, China is the No 1 consumer of tobacco products in the world. About 60 percent of men and 3 percent of women smoke.

The figure for American smokers dropped to less than 20 percent this year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In my hometown of Midland, Michigan, smoking has been outlawed practically everywhere aside from one's own home. There is no smoking within 8 m of any public building, meaning I can't even light up in the middle of the street.

When I took my brother to register for college last year, the policy had changed so that tobacco, including smokeless forms such as chew, wasn't even allowed on campus at all under penalty of a fine.

In the US, and most of the rest of the West, smokers are viewed as black-lunged, black sheep, whereas for men in certain situations in China, refusing to light up can threaten to extinguish a good rapport.

That's not to say one can never refuse, and most of the time, it's quite acceptable to decline. It depends on the situation and host.

Here, a cigarette is a unit of social currency; its brand is a status symbol, and offering one to another person is a handshake, a smile, a toast and a pat on the back, all rolled into one as you wait for someone to strike a match.

Before coming to China, I was at a personal record low of three a day. At university, I had been puffing more than two packs daily. When I came to China, that progress went up in smoke the first time I sat down at a table with a gracious host, who filled me with as much food, alcohol and nicotine as I could take - and then gave me more.

I came close to quitting again earlier this year when I was bedridden with an excruciating cough, which caused my entire respiratory system to sting with searing pangs. It made me think of how much suffering the respiratory disease my smoking might cause later in life and I vowed to quit.

But my resolve was quickly foregone when I left my bed for a world of cheap, convenient and socially acceptable smoking.

Frankly, after that I, like many people, had resigned myself to the notion that it was impossible to quit while living here.

But having seen many friends kick the habit in recent weeks, I've come to realize this was just another excuse to justify not doing so.

People, such as me, who are keen to quit while living in China need to realize the fact that smoking is all too easy and this is the biggest obstacle.

After that, we just need to work through the thousands of other excuses, but we must realize it is people that make their own heavens and hells - not the countries in which they live.

(China Daily 12/09/2008 page20)

Editor's Picks
Hot words

Most Popular
...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产精品久久久久久一区二区三区 | 免费人成在线观看网站品爱网 | 国产亚洲精品aaa大片 | 色偷偷亚洲第一成人综合网址 | 91亚洲精品一区二区福利 | 高清性色生活片欧美在线 | 一级特级欧美a毛片免费 | 国产区久久 | 日韩一级欧美一级在线观看 | 国产精品亚洲一区二区三区在线观看 | 国产亚洲一区二区三区不卡 | 久久精品视频免费在线观看 | 国产成人综合日韩精品婷婷九月 | 美女被免费视频的网站 | 国产一区二三区 | 狠狠色丁香婷婷综合久久片 | 亚洲欧美久久精品一区 | 欧美成人性色大片在线观看 | 亚洲国产成人久久综合碰 | 日韩一级视频在线观看播放 | 日本三级成人中文字幕乱码 | 久久精品a亚洲国产v高清不卡 | 国产精品二区在线 | 亚洲欧美在线免费 | 在线观看一级毛片免费 | 亚洲国产剧情在线精品视 | 草草视频在线播放 | 国产成人精品日本亚洲网站 | 美女被cao免费看在线看网站 | 久久中文字幕在线观看 | 亚洲国产成人久久精品图片 | 亚州在线视频 | 成人毛片一区二区三区 | 国产精品久久久久久久久久影院 | 视频三区精品中文字幕 | 三级视频网站在线观看 | 国产网站在线 | 俄罗斯美女在线观看一区 | 国产一区二区三区不卡在线观看 | 一 级 黄 色 大片 | 成人在线视频国产 |