A Nanjing University graduate student named Mao has been a smoker for several years. He now smokes around half a pack of Mild Sevens every day.
His spending on cigarettes comes to 150 yuan per month.
Smoking for him is a natural and common thing, and a way to help study late into the night, he said.
"I watched my idols smoking in movies, and it's so cool." That's how he picked it up.
Smoking in films has caused many students to take up the habit. A survey by the China Smoking and Health Society carried out just before World No-Tobacco Day on May 31, has shown young people are three times more likely to smoke after being exposed to depictions of smoking and 16 times more likely to think favorably of smoking after seeing their screen idols doing so. This is despite the knowledge of the damage smoking does to your health.
Student smokers are a large group on campus.
According to a recent survey of the students at Xiangtan University in Hunan Province, more than 40 per cent of students smoke.
The appeal of smoking is especially hard to resist when surrounded by smokers. Many learn to smoke so they will fit in socially. The handing out and acceptance of a cigarette is often seen as a gesture of courtesy.
A student named Shao at Shandong University started smoking at the urging of his fellow students. "Many of my friends smoke. So if I don't, I will feel being left out. Smoking is the way to mix with them."
While you may think students are either daily smokers or nonsmokers, a new subgroup - occasional smokers, who don't light up every day - is emerging.
Chen, a student at Zhongshan University in Guangdong Province, likes to light up a cigarette but she doesn't smoke every day and doesn't really consider herself a smoker.
"It's just when I drink and eat out with friends," Chen said. "It's not all the time."
"Puffing away at a cigarette is exhilarating. Everyone stares at me. I feel so different from others, like a star," said Chen.
Part-time smokers like Chen are a fast-growing segment of the young students. They indulge when they feel either stressed or happy.
Some hope smoking will help ease the tension and overcome depression, though that's not backed by evidence. Others smoke because they regard it as cool and trendy. Smoking makes them feel special and fashionable.
Some students said they only smoked part-time because of the expense, tough smoking bans in certain places and a growing anti-smoking effort on campus.
(China Daily June 11, 2003)
