What puzzled me initially about the Chinese and their phlegm throwing was why such voluminous quantities of phlegm were manufactured in the first place. The explanation of course is chain smoking. The Chinese are passionate tobacco smokers, and society imposes little impediment on its connoisseurs. In fact, few men don't smoke, and everyone smokes second-hand, for no place is exempt – not the office, not restaurants, not even an aircon bus with inoperable windows. A few years ago I recall reading a funny article about smoking in China, the gist of which was that if you live in China, you may as well take up smoking, and the good stuff at that, because there's no escaping it. Now I get the point. (As pictured above, Hani men are commonly seen clutching their water bong, a clever innovation for enhancing the smoking experience.)
