"The best way to avoid SARS is to have good hygiene and improve your immune system," said Yin Shaojun, an expert on respiratory diseases at the hospital affiliated with Shanghai's Tongji University.

Not a few people used to spit in public. Ten taxi drivers interviewed randomly in Beijing and Shanghai all admitted that they had urinated in public. Both spitting and urinating in public are not rare in many booming big cities in China and similar traces left by pets are also a common sight in the street.

On April 24, the standing committee of the Shanghai People's Congress passed a special regulation raising the maximum fine for spitting from 50 yuan (US$6) to 200 yuan (US$24.2). Many other major cities including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen also tightened the control.

The SARS epidemic has also promoted various health activities in China. In SARS-affected regions, more and more citizens began to participate in morning exercises. Sporting goods including badminton, tennis and basketball equipment all saw a sharp rise in sales.

"But for how long will people stick to the new lifestyle?" asked Deng Weizhi, professor of sociology at Shanghai University, who worried that people might give it up after SARS.

"It is easy to give up our backward habits during this special period, but to form healthy habits is another story," said Zhou Huajun, an economist.

(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2003)