Where can I smoke in Shanghai after the new smoking ban started in March 2017?

Question

After I booked a room in Shanghai Novotel Atlantis, the confirmation message said "According to Shanghai's anti-smoking regulations, smoking is not allowed in the property's indoor areas". Searching for information, the ban introduced in March 2017 is quite strict and doesn't seem to allow smoking rooms in hotels at all. Since I am traveling with a smoker and selected a smoking room at Booking, it was an unpleasant surprise. I also saw a review saying there are no smoking rooms from this month which I missed the first time around.

If outdoors smoking is only allowed in a dedicated area, how hard is it to find such an area? Is the ban actually getting enforced? (There was a weaker ban before and according to Any area or district in Shanghai that you can avoid smokers? and my other reading it wasn't.)

Answer 1

If outdoors smoking is only allowed in a dedicated area,

It is rather in a dedicated area the outdoor smoking is banned, not that the outdoor smoking is only allowed in a dedicated area.

The restricted outdoor areas include nurseries, school, stadiums, public transportation places many people gather (bus stop, metro platform, etc...), art venues, etc, according to this page on Baidu baike (close to a Wikipedia clone in China).

When I was in Shanghai this June and July, it is still common to see many smokers on the street, even smoking while walking. So your friend can smoke outside, with the exceptions on the few restricted areas.

Another source in English