At a restaurant in China's Guangdong Province, two men casually pull out cigarettes and begin to smoke while eating.

When a woman dining at a nearby table strongly protests their lack of consideration for others, the men respond by asking what the problem is and continue to smoke.

As the argument escalates, the frustrated woman spits the food she was chewing at the men.

The altercation ended when the men who were smoking left the restaurant.

Across China, smoking is prohibited by law in public places, including restaurants.

While penalty regulations vary by province and city, in Beijing, individuals caught smoking in restaurants or public areas face a fine of 50 yuan, approximately 13,000 won. Business owners who fail to prevent smoking or encourage it can be fined around 6,000 yuan.

However, these anti-smoking rules are rarely enforced.

It is easy to find people smoking not only in restaurants that serve alcohol but also in general eateries, as well as at bus stops, in front of subway stations, and even in front of schools.

This is influenced by a culture that is lenient toward smoking. In China, there is still a perception that cigarettes are a recreational product, and a culture of offering cigarettes to build rapport persists.

Because of this, if a restaurant owner, employee, or another customer tries to stop someone from smoking, the common reaction is to treat them as if they are making an unnecessary fuss.

Enforcement is also lax; surprise inspections by local governments are almost non-existent, and even when authorities are dispatched following a report, their stance is that they cannot punish the offender if the person who was smoking has already left the scene.

(Video Editing: Kim Byeong-jik)