Smokers in China are being chided by anti-smoking women

A woman in China posts videos of confrontations with people smoking in public and says her personality has changed due to anger about tobacco. Smoking rates show a strong gender divide, with far more men than women smoking. In Shenzhen, many women challenge men who smoke, and some use social media to share encounters. A friend describes “bros” as disrespectful and asks whether cigarettes are beneficial. Another confrontation at a bus stop escalated when a woman poured juice on a cigarette, leading to police arrest for both people. Subsequent posts were removed, while official reporting cited a safety check and a fine for violating no-smoking rules at bus stops.

"Hilda Wang scolds smokers and posts videos of the encounters. She says she's a natural introvert - but she gets so upset about smoking that her personality has changed. In a widely shared clip, she's lecturing a man with a cigarette in hand. He says she has no right to put him on video. She tells the man he's an embarrassment, and he walks away. Wang comes into contact with a lot of smokers."

"According to the latest data from the World Health Organization, about 45% of males and 2% of females above the age of 15 smoke tobacco. In Shenzhen, a densely-packed city of almost 20 million residents just north of Hong Kong, Wang is one of many women who have been confronting men smoking in public areas. Sometimes the confrontations end up on social media."

""I hate bros," says Hilda's friend Luno Wang, who also scolds men she sees smoking. She says "bros" are lower IQ and less civilized, and don't respect others. She says she's asked men: "Is your cigarette a good thing for you to suck?" In a clip that spread on social media this spring, a woman confronted a smoker at a bus stop."

"When he refused to put out his cigarette, she poured juice on it. He threw the empty cup at her, and both were arrested. The woman posted afterward on China's social media Weibo that she was strip-searched by police; her posts were later taken down. The state-owned China Daily said a female officer gave her a "safety check" in accordance with regulations. China Daily also reported that the man was breaking Shenzhen's rules for no smoking at bus stops and he was fined."

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