Where can I smoke, and where can't I?
Short answer
Indoors is banned outright in the big cities, e-cigarettes included, and the rules are written city by city rather than nationally.
The rules are municipal, so read the city you are in
There is no single national smoking law that a visitor can memorise. Cities legislate their own, and Shanghai's — the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Smoking Control in Public Places — is the one published in English in full, which makes it the practical reference.
What that means in practice is that the shape is consistent between big cities while the outdoor detail differs. Assume the strict version and you will not be wrong in Shanghai or Beijing.
Indoors: no exceptions worth looking for
Shanghai's Article 6 prohibits smoking in indoor public places, indoor working areas and public transport vehicles. That is the whole indoor category rather than a size threshold or a room-by-room permission.
Electronic cigarettes are inside the ban, not a workaround. The regulation names them from Article 2 onward and states its purpose as reducing harm from both tobacco smoke and e-cigarette emissions.
Outdoors, and what it costs
Article 7 extends the ban to outdoor areas at childcare facilities, schools, maternity and children's hospitals, sports and performance venues, protected cultural heritage sites, and public transport waiting areas. Queuing and waiting places are the ones travellers walk into without thinking.
For an individual, Article 19 sets a fine of between 50 and 200 yuan where someone smokes in a non-smoking area and ignores a request to stop. The trigger is the refusal as much as the cigarette.
Good to know
- E-cigarettes are covered by the same ban
- Transport waiting areas are no-smoking outdoors too
- Rules are set city by city — assume the strict version
It is the reverse of what most visitors expect: indoors is generally banned, and so is smoking while walking outdoors. You look for a designated area.
Every restaurant, bar and café is no-smoking regardless of size, and a lot of outdoor space is too. Fines run to 100,000 won.