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Download Despite regulations and rules, domestic movies and TV series are still flooded with smoking-related scenes that could have a negative impact on the public, particularly young people, according to an annual review of smoking scenes in films and television series. The review by the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control released on Wednesday said that compared with 2010, the number and length of smoking scenes in movies last year have surged. Among 40 domestically produced movies shown last year, 28 had smoking scenes, according to the review. Each movie averaged more than 17 such scenes and each smoking scene lasted nearly 2.5 minutes on average. Notably, 12 movies, mainly romance and comedies, had no smoking at all. The Piano in a Factory was given the "dirty ashtray award." In the 107-minute movie, 95 scenes had smoking, lasting for 28.3 minutes altogether, according to the review. Of the 30 TV series reviewed, 29 had smoking scenes. The 1,539 scenes lasted more than 135 minutes. Each TV soap opera averaged 51 such scenes lasting 4.5 minutes, the review said. "Smoking scenes in popular movies and TV series had a causal relation with youths beginning to smoke, so they should be better regulated," said Xu Guihua, executive vice-president of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control. Huang Jiefu, vice-minister of health and head of the association, said movies and TV series should convey good and healthy lifestyles to the public. | 
