Chinese smokers are disregarding a national smoking ban for indoor public places that took effect 1 May, the Xinhuanet online service reports.

A tour of indoor venues around the capital Beijing found “numerous” violations of  the ban against smoking in restaurants, cafes, hotels, airports and other indoor venues, Xinhuanet said.
There are fears the new ban will prove ineffective because the enforcement mechanism and penalties are unclear, says Xinhuanet, which is the online service run by the Xinhua news agency.
About 350 million Chinese smoke, which works out to one of every three smokers on the planet, according to Xinhuanet.