The toughest anti-smoking legislation in China's history has been introduced in Beijing, with unprecedented fines and a hotline to report offenders.
The law makes smoking in offices, restaurants, hotels and hospitals illegal, with venues where the ban is flouted liable to fines of up to 10,000 yuan ($A2,094).
Venues which repeatedly ignore the law could have their licenses revoked, while individuals caught smoking in specified areas could be fined as much as 200 yuan ($A42).
As well as indoor smoking, the law prohibits lighting up in some open-air spaces close to schools, hospitals, and sports venues.
Despite a government awareness campaign that saw posters detailing the law displayed in restaurants and offices around the city, many say it will be difficult to implement.
Nightclubs had been singled out as a potential problem area, Zhang Jianshu, president of the Beijing Tobacco Control Association, told the China Daily newspaper.
"The key lies in the business owners," the paper quoted Zhang as saying on Monday.
"They have the responsibility to ensure no smoking within their establishments."
Various parties - the police, building managers, tenants and health inspectors - have been called on to implement the ban, but the law "fails to make clear who is ultimately responsible, thus leaving the possibility that they will pass the buck to each other", state-run newspaper Beijing Youth Daily pointed out.
The law - limited to the capital - is not China's first such effort.
A similar nationwide measure was passed in 2011, albeit without financial sanctions, but implementation was lacklustre.
Environmental and safety laws in China are often openly flouted because of limited official oversight, or corruption in the form of bribes to law enforcers.
Cigarettes remain cheap, with packs often costing less than 10 yuan ($US1), and some Chinese experts say the Beijing law still does not go far enough.
The World Health Organisation says 300 million Chinese smoke, including about half of all men, and 740 million Chinese are exposed to second-hand smoke.
The group says lung cancer kills more than 1.3 million people in the country each year, one-third of the global total.
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