Beijing ready for a non-smoking bar or not ?

[dnevets]

Have you done any market research? A small team armed with the right questions could get all the research you need in a single day.

A lot of Beijing-based people on this thread, and mention of a few non-smoking cafes already in existence. Has anyone witnessed people trying to smoke in these places, and if so what happened?

Roddy said

However, if you're going to do this, you need to have your staff trained to pull people up on it.

and I completely agree. I've seen people smoking in non-smoking places in Xi'an (Starbucks, a Hong Kong restaurant on South Street) and when asked to stop, repeatedly told that smoking was not allowed, the smokers just carried on smoking anyway...

[roddy]

Update time! How's the bar going, and can we smoke in here?

[langxia]

Oh I thought I allready posted an update in here sometimes ago.

Well we are still trying to keep it smoke free most of the time. If there is a large group of people coming and they want to smoke we usually let em smoke if there are not to many non smoking customers (most of the time it is choosing between smoking customers or no customers so at that point smoking usually wins)

But we are also usually asking them to go to the second floor (which helps a little but the second floor is kind of terrace like and has openings towards the lower floor, so if the people are heavy smokers you will smell it on the lower floor)

Lately we started to organize small unplugged concerts and when those take place we have a strict non smoking policy (actually we have a group that wants to play at our place because it is non smoking and they don't want to play at locations where smoking is allowed)

If anyone is interested in the next show it will be next saturday 2012.04.21 around 8:30 it is asian folk-music performed by an american and a chinese of the miao minority.

Chinese forum users will get a free shot of the day with their first order (this is also a nice way to maybe meet some fellow chinese-forums users )

[driftman]

nonono - I want to smoke!

[terryswift]

irish volunteer , a pub near lido hotel, is non smoking....

[cultureyard]

The places mentioned in this thread which are non-smoking are usually primarily restaurants or cafes, which I do think should be non-smoking! Even smokers don't like it when other people are smoking while they are eating.

I think a non-smoking bar doesn't do as well as the non-smoking restaurants or cafes. For smokers drinks and cigarettes are like a match made in heaven, perhaps in the summer no one will complain about going outside, but as soon as Beijing winter hits - it might be a problem! With that said, I don't think the smoking policy really defines a bar or will change people's opinion or desire to go there and drink. If they like it, they will go and smokers will have to deal with it!

[deezy]

Well, has anyone else noticed that the % of Chinese smoking seems to have plummeted over the last few years?

Maybe it's just me...but it seems like the number of visible puffers has dramatically declined?

[anothermario]

I'd definitely go to a non-smoking bar, given the choice.

[frankwall]

I can't stand smoking bars, coming home with smelly clothes. I'd take a non-smoking one any day. Better for the health as well - if you have kids or your wife is pregnant, its important to have alternatives.

[cultureyard]

I think non-smoking is fine lots of bars ive been to are non smoking and i spos if your selling to westerners many of them would be used to non smoking from their own countries. i think there would be pleant of beijingers looking for non smoking. i know im tired of going home stinking of smoke