Aussie Lobsters Sneak into China

Australian rock lobsters are being smuggled to China via HK

Australia and China have had long simmering disputes as of late, and this has led to the latter banning numerous food products from Down Under.

First it was wines, along with barley, log timber, copper, coal, and sugar, and recently it's rock lobsters.

But the red crustaceans are making their way to China via Hong Kong thanks to some daring smugglers.

Australian wines are banned from entering China

Back in 2015 when China-Australia Free Trade Agreement was signed, smuggling was brought to a halt and four years later, more than 90 percent of Australia's rock lobsters were exported to China, worth a staggering US$553.7 million a year, according to the Australian agriculture department.

However, the trade ban has resurrected smuggling operations. It's not just lobsters the smugglers are bringing over to China, but also frozen meats, cigarettes and other goods, possibly jewellery, bird's nest, or shark's fin.

In April, Hong Kong imported a whopping 157,978kg of Australian rock lobsters -- about 50 times the amount imported in October, just before the ban took effect.

Lobsters are packed in boxes and kept chilled

But none of the lobsters show up as cargo being re-exported to mainland China, said Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department. Only 5 percent of the lobsters are re-exported to Macau.

"How could people in Hong Kong consume so many lobsters?" asks a local seafood trader. "Of course they must have ended up on the mainland."

Mainland e-commerce sites like Xianyu and Taobao have suppliers in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou selling rock lobsters for 300 yuan to 1,000 yuan (US$45-US$155) per kilogram.

How they get to China is, the lobsters are chilled -- not frozen -- to keep them alive and the cold temperatures put them to sleep. After an eight-hour flight from Perth to Hong Kong, and cleared customs, the crustaceans are put in water tanks for two or three days to freshen them up and then repacked again in boxes to make the illicit journey.

The lobsters end up on dining tables in China

Some are hidden in fishermens' boats together with their usual haul to get to the other side a few kilometres away, while others are taken by speedboat by smugglers. It's crucial to get the lobsters transported as quickly as possible because no one wants a dead lobster on arrival...

Will Tobacco IPO Light Up?

Cheap cigarettes are easily available everywhere in China

The world's largest cigarette company is filing its IPO in Hong Kong -- China National Tobacco.

I raised my eyebrows when I found out.

To clarify, it's the Chinese state-owned tobacco monopoly's international subsidiary, China Tobacco International, is planning the listing. Its revenues were HK$5.1 billion (US$651 million) from January to September last year, according to documents filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The state-owned monopoly filed an IPO in Hong Kong

China National Tobacco buys leaves from overseas markets such as Brazil and the United States, and then sells them to domestic cigarette manufacturers at a 6 percent mark-up.

The Chinese company also has a monopoly on all tobacco exports from China, which largely caters to Chinese tourists in duty-free outlets across Asia -- a very small market.

China National Tobacco doesn't publish data on its accounts, but Bloomberg News said a rare release of financial data in 2012 suggests the state-owned enterprise's earned profits were on par with HSBC and Walmart.

It's intriguing the application for the listing is being made now, at a time when everyone knows smoking is harmful to your health -- and who will invest in this IPO? Sounds like a test of investors' ethics.

According to the World Health Organization, 7 million deaths last year were attributed from cancer and other lung diseases, or 1 in 10 deaths worldwide, 1 million in China alone.

The country produces the most cigarettes in the world

The Chinese government puts out feeble public service announcements about the harmful effects of smoking on health, but in reality it makes a lot of money from holding the monopoly on selling tobacco...

In Hong Kong where smoking rates fell 10 percent in 2017, we'll have to see if people have the appetite to encourage others to light up...

Irving Penn's Magnificent Images

The photographer himself, Irving Penn, the master of portraits and fashion

At The Metropolitan Museum of Art we also saw Irving Penn: Centennial that's on until July 30. It is 100 years since the birth of the American photographer who died in 2009.

One of his earlier portraits of a chef

I first became acquainted to Penn's photographs through Vogue magazine and thought they were so elegant and beautiful even if the subjects were very simple. Actually there was nothing tricky about them -- it was very straight forward but how they were photographed made them quietly sophisticated and gorgeous.

It was pictures of food in a still life arrangement -- either the ingredients artfully placed, or the finished dish, but hardly garnished or decorated with anything, or models posed with as little distraction as possible to illustrate the article.

The exhibition at The Met features only 150 of Penn's photographs, though it features many of his earlier works that I was unaware of. He started taking portraits of all kinds of people in different jobs from a balloon seller to fireman, waiter, chef, blast furnace tender and butcher, window washer and chamois seller.

Smouldering image of Marlene Dietrich

He hated smoking, and when his mentor Alexey Brodovitch died of lung cancer, Penn became even more aware of the cigarette butts lying all over the streets of New York and decided to use them as subjects for a series of photographs.

They are used butts, some fished out from the streets so they are dirty, and yet Penn makes them look like dangerously beautiful objects. It's so ironic that it makes them arresting images. But after looking at several of them you get the idea and want to move on.

His portraits of people are amazing -- he put his subjects in a tight corner -- Truman Capote, Marcel Duchamp, Spencer Tracy, Igor Stravinsky, and Salvador Dali. Other fantastic portraits include Marlene Dietrich, Cecil Beaton, Pablo Picasso, and Audrey Hepburn.

Penn was famous for his fashion shoots

Penn's studio was in a building with no water and electricity but had natural light that he preferred using. Because of his fame, people did not hesitate to have their portraits taken by him. You can see the backdrop he used for his photo shoots too, and some visitors take selfies with it.

He was also adventurous in his travels, and in the show there is video footage of him in Morocco setting up a basic tent and getting locals in their native dress to have their portraits taken by him.

In another he took pictures of indigenous people in Papua New Guinea. Again he kept everything simple so that the viewer only focuses on the subject, making them arresting images.

It's too bad there aren't more photographs to look at -- I could look at dozens more, particularly of his fashion shoots and still lifes of things like flowers, but alas the exhibition was soon over...

A backdrop he used to use for portraits

Irving Penn: Centennial

Until July 30, 2017

Gallery 199

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

China's Flip Flop on Smoking Ban

Enough cigarettes for you? A shop selling almost every local brand you'd want

Whenever China says it's going to be more stringent on smoking regulations, it's pretty much a joke.

The government is too vested in the tobacco industry to really want to help its citizens wean themselves off those cancer sticks.

The latest is that Beijing has back-pedaled on a proposed national smoke-free law, that would have banned smoking in all indoor and some outdoor public spaces.

Now the latest version of the Ordinance on Smoking Control in Public Spaces would allow restaurants, bars, hotels and airports to set aside smoking areas.

Bars, restaurants, hotels and airports will have smoking areas

Bernhard Schwartlander, the World Health Organization representative in China was concerned about the changes.

"You see again and again in the world such exceptions built in the law and it doesn't do much to protect the health of the people from second-hand smoke. A law that has so many exceptions can't be enforced. We have learned the best law is one that is 100 percent smoke free," he said.

There are about 315 million smokers in the mainland, and China is also the world's biggest producer and consumer of tobacco products. Around 700 million people are routinely exposed to second-hand smoke, according to the WHO.

It's hard to control because the tobacco industry is state-owned and generates more than 1.09 billion yuan in profit and tax revenue last year.

Even though the proposed national law is weak, 18 mainland cities have passed their own municipal smoking bans since 2008, of which Beijing's is the most stringent.

Smoker with a "no smoking" sign behind him in a restaurant

The law in the Chinese capital, which was passed last June, fully complies with the WHO's call for complete bans on smoking in all indoor workplaces, public transport areas and other public places.

A year after the ban was implemented, smoking in indoor areas dropped from 23.1 percent to 6.7 percent, while smoking in restaurants fell from 40.3 percent to 14.8 percent, according to the Beijing Health and Family Planning Commission.

Nevertheless, one would think such drops in numbers would be solid proof that these bans are effective, but old habits die hard.

It's practically impossible to get the numbers to zero because there are many who flout the municipal ban and think it doesn't apply to them, or restaurants don't want to be too heavy handed when it comes to enforcing the ban because it will make their diners angry.

Surely President Xi Jinping would insist on smoking bans -- if he did it would have happened already.

Or maybe the tobacco industry is too big of a fish to fry, or further down on his priority list.

But the impact of China's healthcare system having to deal with an explosion of cancer cases is something that worries him... or not?

Hong Kong's Love of Processed Meat

A typical non-healthy dish in a cha chaan teng always includes panfried spam

There was some surprise today from Hong Kong people reading the news about the World Health Organization saying processed meats are carcinogenic and as dangerous as tobacco and asbestos.

As expected those in the food industry were quick to denounce the findings as "harsh", while others said the study was based on western eating habits, not Asian.

However, look at what a large number of people eat at cha chaan tengs -- panfried spam, sausages, some bacon. Many also eat sandwich meats thinking they're just as good as natural meat. And then there's lap cheong or Chinese sausages...

Some wonder if Chinese sausage is not as healthy as it looks

The study found Hong Kong people eat an average of three-and-half sausages and nearly two slices of ham per week, which is considered to pose a significant cancer risk.

Local demand for processed meats, such as sausages and ham has grown in recent years. Figures show that 23.1 million kg of sausages were imported last year, up 3.9 percent from the previous year, and up 17 percent from the year before that. Some 18 million kg of ham was brought in last year.

That's how WHO came up with an average consumption of 7.9g of sausage, or half a piece, and 6.1g of ham or a quarter slice. This doesn't include other processed meats and red meats

In general Hong Kong people are not knowledgeable about nutrition and think they are eating a balanced diet when they aren't at all. Perusing through supermarkets these days, the vast majority of food for sale are processed one way or another -- in a box.

Many shoppers buy bags and bags of instant noodles, chips, chocolate, and processed meats, and not often fresh meat, vegetables and fruits. I know this because every week when I hit the supermarket, I look at what people are buying and also what's on the shelves and I'm shivering with fear.

Should we be surprised more people in the city are obese, or have high blood pressure or are diabetic?

More markets with fresh vegetables and products are available

The WHO said eating processed meat could lead to bowl cancer, which claims the second most lives in Hong Kong, with lung cancer the number one cancer killer.

Will this report make people change their dietary habits? Probably a small percentage, while the rest will carry on eating processed meats because they don't feel ill from eating them.

But by the same token, vegetarianism or some say "part-time vegetarianism" is starting to gain more interest. There are more vegetarian restaurants in Hong Kong, and more plant-based food products are available.

The government should really be stepping up disseminating important information about what people should be eating. Enough with the "rich man's diet" and eating more vegetables and fruits. At least it would be easier on our wallets too...

Getting Hong Kong to Uber-ize

Uber is ready to serve customers who are willing to pay more for good service

Uber is forcing governments around the world to figure out how this car-hailing app can fit into their societies, but not without backlash.

In Hong Kong, the firm's offices in Sheung Wan were raided several days ago and three staff were arrested along with seven Uber drivers.

The ironic thing is that Uber was supported by InvestHK, a government arm that helps businesses set up shop in Hong Kong easily, in some cases offering promotional services and introduction to contacts, as long as the business fits into one of six areas like creative industries, financial services, innovation and technology, and information and communications technology.

Many complain about Hong Kong taxi drivers' bad habits

Uber was even promoted on the InvestHK website up until the day of the arrests which must have been an awkward U-turn for the government.

But why all of a sudden these arrests? Technically Uber drivers do not have licenses to carry strangers in their own cars. And what if there's an accident? Who takes responsibility?

This is what the taxi driver associations are angry about, because they are paying around HK$7 million each for their licenses while these Uber drivers are not.

However, upon hearing about the arrests, there was an online petition that garnered 50,000 signatures supporting Uber, and lots of comments in local newspapers from residents tired of putting up with cab drivers who refuse to pick up passengers, smell lingering cigarette smoke, charge exorbitant fees late at night, and so on.

Surely there is room for two services, one of which people need to pay more for better service? Some customers like to be picked up in a Mercedes, others just want to ensure they have a ride after a concert where thousands of people are waiting in line for a taxi.

Uber North Asia general manager Sam Gellman is keen to sit down with the government to hash out some kind of agreement.

Uber's Sam Gellman keen to work with the government

"A smart city must have smart regulations fit for a digital age, and we look forward to working closely with regulators towards developing a regulatory approach that enables more choice and innovation while putting the safety and interests of riders and drivers first," he says.

The Hong Kong government, via Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung, says there should be "legal space" for Uber to continue to operate in the city.

Gellman says safety is a top priority for the taxi-hailing app, which is why the drivers go through an extensive background check and every ride is covered by insurance.

He seems optimistic something will be worked out in the end for Hong Kong, citing the successful adaptation of Uber into transportation regulations and licensing schemes in 54 jurisdictions in the United States, Mexico City and the Philippines.

Yuen says the Justice Department has yet to lay charges on the Uber staff and drivers, as the police are still investigating... but shouldn't the government have done its due diligence work on Uber before allowing it into the city? Seems strange for it to investigate one of its star clients...

Nevertheless, the fight between Uber and Hong Kong taxi drivers continues and public opinion seems to side with the former.

I have yet to try the service, and have heard about some hits and misses, but overall seems like it wouldn't hurt to drive a little competition in Hong Kong -- isn't that what this city is about -- choice?

Taxi-ing to Another Level

Uber may be everyone's private driver, but taxi drivers' biggest nightmare

In many places around the world, the mobile car-hailing app Uber is not welcomed. On the day we arrived in Paris on June 25, taxi drivers went on strike protesting Uber, by blocking all roads to the airport with their vehicles.

While the Parisians just shrugged, as strikes are a normal occurrence, the rest of us had to schlepp our luggage to from the airport to the commuter train to get into town.

New York City recently temporarily gave up trying to cap the number of Uber vehicles in the Big Apple for a four-month trial period, while in Hong Kong, taxi drivers are kicking up a fuss.

Taxi drivers smashing one of their own vehicles for attention

They even protested by smashing a red cab on Friday with sledgehammers. Why they damaged one of their own vehicles is beyond me, but maybe they were so angry they only saw red?

The drivers say they have lost 20 percent in revenue since the introduction of mobile apps in Hong Kong and are calling for the government to clamp down on car-hailing apps like Uber, as those drivers may not be properly licensed with a hire-car permit.

But what about the cab drivers themselves? Some have their dashboards lined up with mobile phones to take calls from clients who want a ride at a specific time of day and place for a slightly cheaper rate. Isn't what they are doing very similar to Uber?

Except with Uber, you can rate your driver and if there's a problem, there's remedial action taken. And also they take credit card payment, something standard in places like New York City.

My uncle told me he and his friend dined in a restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui and afterwards his friend used Uber for the first time to get a ride home. To his astonishment, a red taxi showed up within five minutes. Sounds like the taxi driver wants the best of both worlds.

Many expatriates -- a large number of them take taxis daily -- are happy to see Uber here. They are tired of drivers having a cigarette smoke smell in the car, or putting up with the seemingly arrogant attitude, or late at night choosing their customers by only rolling down their windows to see how far potential customers need to go.

While there are 50,000 red taxis here, is there room for Uber?

In areas like Lan Kwai Fong after the MTR is closed, some taxis will prowl the area and demand at least HK$200 per ride, even if it's five minutes away. Not enough people complain to the police or they find it too much of a hassle to file a report, and so the authorities don't realize this is a serious problem.

Hence Uber is a godsend for many as an alternative to the apparently 50,000 taxis in the city, who all aren't available at 4pm because the drivers are changing shifts.

Another car-hailing app called Call4van fills a need for those who have some goods to carry, but don't fit in the space of a taxi or have more passengers or luggage.

Therefore many people here don't have much sympathy for taxi drivers, even though they need to shell out some HK$7 million for a license, the equivalent of a two-bedroom flat.

I don't take taxis very often, as the vast majority of the places I go to are accessible by public transport. When I do take taxis, some are very chatty, others are busy counting their money at the red light. When I have to go to a place I'm not familiar with at all, some are very helpful, and I'm grateful they know their way around so easily.

But these drivers, many in their 50s and 60s, don't get the fuss with Uber. However, if the service is cutting into their profits, then perhaps they should stop being so picky and be the dependable service they used to be.

French Factoids, Touring Paris and Centre Pompidou

The Eiffel Tower is one of the most visited landmarks

This morning we had a city tour given by a local guide and he gave us a lot of interesting factoids. Here's a random selection:

The population of Paris is 2.2 million.

Les Invalides where Napoleon's body is laid to rest

Notre Dame is 852 years old.

There has been no skyscrapers since 1977 after the one at Montparnasse was built in 1973 at 59 floors.

The French pay 75 percent in taxes in gasoline.

There are five weeks of paid vacation each year.

A pack of cigarettes costs 10 euros.

Napoleon crowned himself emperor

Every year France receives 83 million visitors, 15 million of which go to Euro Disney.

To rent an 800 square-foot flat it costs around 2,300 euros a month, but the average wage is 1,600 euros.

We made a quick stop at The Invalides, Napoleon's final resting place. Twelve kilograms of gold leaf was used to reguild the dome on top of the Invalides and the place was originally a home for soldiers.

Napoleon's body is placed in seven coffins, and his actual height was 5 feet 6 inches, so he wasn't that short. He was originally from Corsica, half French, half Italian. He grew up speaking Italian and didn't learn French until he was older.

He worked hard, some 15 hours a day and graduated from the Military College that was passed by. There are still some bullet holes from World War II on the façade of the college that can easily be seen.

The interesting "inside outside" design of Centre Pompidou

Another point of interest we saw was the Eiffel Tower. It was built in 1889 by Gustav Eiffel for the World's Exposition and was meant to be a temporary building to be taken down in 20 years. Many protested it, but at the last minute the structure was saved, mostly because it had military uses in sending wireless messages from the top.

It took 26 months to build the tower and it has four elevators, one in each leg. They now have double-decker elevators, each carrying 50 people at a time. The second floor of the tower is Jules Verne Restaurant, which was taken over by Alain Ducasse about a year ago. No food is actually "cooked" on the tower – it is brought up there – not even candles can be placed on a birthday cake.

Le Corbusier looked at things in terms of geometry

Eiffel was a well known civil engineer at the time and also assisted in the infrastructure of the State of Liberty that was a gift from the French to the Americans.

There's a giant gold "eternal flame" that was a gift from the Herald Tribune in 1987, but it happens to be by the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed in the tragic car accident with Dodi el Fayed. As a result the "eternal flame" has become a shrine where people still pay their respects to the late princess.

Two of Le Corbusier's chair designs that are still around today

Another must-see sight is the Arc de Triomphe, built by Napoleon to celebrate his victories. Thirty-three generals and marshals are remembered here, including Victor Hugo's father.

The arch is where the tomb of the unknown soldier is located, and the eternal flame there has been going non-stop for 94 years – even during World War II. Every night at 6.30pm there is a ceremony to remember the war dead.

This is also the place where the Tour de France ends.

Le Corbusier's concept of man and his various measurements

Our tour ended at Place de la Concorde, where we saw the obelisk that was originally from Luxor. It took five years and a specially made boat to carry it from Egypt to France. The obelisk is now 3,300 years old.

After lunch we went to Centre Pompidou near Chatelet Les Halles metro station. It's a curious building – the various pipes are on the outside, kind of turning the building inside out, as a way to save more space inside.

This photo of him ended the exhibition!

Designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, the building is not only a exhibition space but also a community one too. The pipes are colour coded – blue for air conditioning, green for water circulation, red for transporting people in elevators and escalators, and yellow for electricity.

For 3 euros we were able to go to the top of the centre and have a good overview of Paris. We could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance as well as Sacre Coeur.

Inside we took a quick look at one of the current exhibitions, Le Corbusier: Mesures de L'Homme or Measures of Man.  

It was similar to the show we saw in New York over a year ago, celebrating the architect's innovative designs that focus on minimalism and functionality. Here it was more about the human body and how it fits in relation to architecture and furniture.

The stained glass dome at Galeries Lafayette

In 1943 he began thinking about the Modulor, a system of measurement based on the size of the average man, 183cm or 226cm when his arm was raised. However it wasn't just about numbers, Le Corbusier would make line drawings of human figures that were stamped onto drafts or painted or carved on walls of buildings.

The exhibition also showcases his paintings, sculptures, furniture designs and of course architectural drawings, including one of Notre Dame du Haut Chapel in Ronchamp, and of course Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab state, commissioned by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Afterwards we made our way to Galeries Lafayette where we saw lots of mainland Chinese tourists shopping up a storm or taking a break by sitting on the floor with their bags of purchases. We focused more on appreciating the stained glass domed ceiling than the luxury merchandise on the sale.

Printemps celebrating 150 years with flowers

Across the street Printemps is celebrating its 150^th anniversary and trying to drum up business with collaborations with various brands, such as a special Printemps pink macaron from Laduree…

Cancer Scare

Air pollution, but also unhealthy lifestyles are to blame for rising cancer rates

It is shocking to read in the news today that cancer is claiming 18 percent more lives in Hong Kong than a decade ago. This means the number of cancer patients has grown 27 percent in the last 10 years, an annual rate of 2.5 percent, according to Department of Health and Hospital Authority data.

The five most commonly diagnosed cancers, which account for 60 percent of all new cases are: lung, colorectal, breast, liver and prostate.

Today is World Cancer Day with the tagline "Not Beyond Us", in the hopes of spreading an optimistic message that if people change their lifestyles into more healthier ones, they will have a higher chance of preventing a cancer diagnosis.

However no matter how many times doctors and health experts preach to the public about the importance of eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and getting health check ups, not many seem to take heed.

There are still many people, particularly women, who would rather drink a potion than exercise for 20 minutes, or they constantly cite the excuse of not having enough time to hit the gym.

We wonder if these alarming statistics will encourage people, particularly those who have seen cancer cases in their own family histories, to actually try to change their situation.

The incidence of cancer in Hong Kong is rising at a faster pace, with a new record of 27,848 cases in 2012 -- an increase of 27 percent -- compared to 2002, according to the Hospital Authority's Hong Kong Cancer Registry update last November.

Most of the increases are in female patients, who are contracting cancers in lung, uterus and breast.

Lung cancer has overtaken colorectal cancer in top spot this year, and Dr Daniel Chua Tsin-tien, associate director at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital's department of radiotherapy, says breast and colorectal cancer will continue to have high rates in Hong Kong because of people smoking and eating more red meat.

Will the government consider raising taxes for cigarettes, but more importantly begin clamping down severely on those polluting the air we breathe? Surely the government does not want to have a a health care breakdown because of the ever growing cancer cases that in all honesty impact the city's productivity?

It's long overdue for the government to be more pro-active about preventative healthcare. Surely healthy taxpayers than those draining resources would be in the government's best interests?

Hard to Break the Habit

Beijing's determination to clamp down on smoking is a puff of air

Just before the new year, China announced it would ban officials from smoking in indoor and public areas in a bid to encourage the general population to stop lighting up.

However with the integrity of Chinese officials hardly worth respecting thanks to the many outed by outrageous corruption, greed and complete lack of common sense, why would any intelligent person follow their example?

Meanwhile a UK study published in the New England Journal of Medicine says that if tobacco taxes globally were tripled, the number of smokers would be reduced by one-third.

Researchers say that would equate to saving 200 million people from premature deaths due to lung cancer and other related diseases worldwide.

But it doesn't seem like the Chinese government will take drastic action yet since it owns the tobacco industry and earns a lot of taxes from this lucrative sector, where cigarettes can be a relatively cheap habit to maintain -- depending on what you're puffing.

The UK researchers said it was imperative for China to play a role in addressing the smoking issue.

"Cigarette consumption in China continues to rise steeply and now accounts for more than 2 trillion of a worldwide total of about 6 trillion cigarettes smoked per year," they wrote in the paper.

"Tobacco already accounts for about 12 to 25 percent of deaths among men in low- and middle-income countries such as China. A low reliance on specific excise taxes on tobacco by China... discourages smoking cessation."

Professor Yang Gonghuan, director of China's National Office of Tobacco Control -- yes the mainland really has such an organization but its voice is like a lone cry in the wilderness -- said the Chinese government was unlikely to adopt the drastic increase in taxes.

Increasing tobacco taxes has been studied for a long time but never been implemented due to the powerful lobbying of the tobacco industry.

Tax on tobacco was last raised in 2009, but the industry was compensated through other policies so that it could increase the availability of cheaper cigarettes.

China made 865 billion yuan in tax revenue last year from over 300 million smokers, up 16 percent in from 2011. China National Tobacco Corp revealed last year in a rare regulatory filing that it made 300 million yuan a day in net profit in 2010. It's jaw-dropping, but also reveals how the government is also sucked deep into the habit of wanting to keep the cigarette industry going.

Meanwhile an estimated 1.2 million die from smoking-related causes each year. What is more important? More tax coffers to line officials' pockets or a healthier and more productive population to continue to boost China's GDP?

Obviously we know where the Chinese government stands on this issue...