You're listening to Roundtable with myself, He Yang.
I'm joined by Steve and Fei-Fei in the studio.
Coming up, forget boring lectures.
Now learn science while scrolling through TikTok, attending AR-powered exhibitions or chat with real-life scientists online.
China's first national science popularization month is making science as interactive and exciting as your favorite app.
Let's see how science is making curiosity contagious.
And from shopping malls to sidewalks.
Social media influencers in China are confronting smokers on camera.
Are citizen activists the key to a smoke-free future or should the government step up enforcement?
Our podcast listeners can find us at Roundtable China on Apple Podcasts.
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Now let's switch gears.
September 2025 marks a milestone for science in China.
The launch of the very first National Science Popularization Month made possible by a newly revised law.
Think of it as upgrading from a quick snack to a full blown science buffet.
Under the theme technology changes life, innovation wins the future.
Over 30 government departments are organizing more than 100
Thank you.
So let's start with the basics.
What exactly is the National Science Popularization Month?
And why have we expanded it from a single science day to an entire month?
Well, this is the first science popularization month that's launched in China, starting this year in September.
It was making a shift from, as He Yang mentioned, from a day to a month long events.
And it was decided by the newly advised science and technology popularization law which took effect last year.
And so this year, I think it shows that the emphasis on the importance of science and technology is on not informing and educating the general public of all ages, of different walks of life, about change, getting to know about the latest, not only the latest scientific innovation achievements, but also, you know, learning how basic science, learning how problem solving skills and also how important getting to know some basic science common sense is.
Yeah, you're talking about scientific literacy right, and that that's the goal here is to boost the scientific literacy of the public, and the law in 2024 was a major amendment to the original law, and here they're expanding the scope.
Right, they're mandating the meeting of the modern challenges.
It's kind of like a national blueprint.
I guess you could look at it like that directing government bodies and schools and research institutions and media outlets and corporations to actively participate in making science accessible to everyone and raising the bar for everyone's scientific literacy.
Timing can tell us a lot about intention.
Why was September chosen for Science Popularization Month and how does it connect with education, national development and public engagement?
The predecessor of National Science Popularization Month was National Science Popularization Day.
Now I'm even having trouble with that word.
It's a long title.
That was held annually for 22 years, and it was really widely welcomed.
It was recognized by the public.
Everybody knew about it.
But September, to answer the question, it marks the beginning of the new academic year.
So it just makes sense, right?
When you organize this month-long group of activities at this time, it allows for the schools to integrate it into their curriculum and it promotes this kind of organic fusion of science education and disciplinary education together.
And it provides a good opportunity to deliver for a lot of kids their very first science lesson, right.
It's science month, kids.
And it gets them kind of excited about it as opposed to science.
Yeah, exactly.
And imagine for, for example, museums or other facilities within the science and technology world.
They can launch a range of activities to lure and attract these children.
Not only children, but also adults.
Yeah, sure.
Yeah.
And not all science events are created equal.
This month brings something new to the table.
What are the standout features of this first National Science Popularization Month?
Well, it features, of course, the regulars, you know lectures programs, open labs exhibitions, and so on and so forth.
And I think what's very interesting is they recently launched a film, 8K space film.
Outside the window is the blue star, which... depicting the journey of Shenzhou 13.
The film was shot by those three astronauts in the Chinese space station.
I went to the cinema to see that film with my child and she loved it.
It was.
You know, the storyline was very organic because it's basically what the daily life and challenges of those three astronauts on the space station themselves.
And it's very touching when you see the Earth from that station, that within spoiler alert that within the film they have the footages shot shooting from the space station about different areas of the Earth.
And you're really touching to see that, the planet from above.
It's, again, right?
It's achieving that goal, making science accessible.
And cool again.
And cool for everyone.
I went to, what was the name of the museum in New York City?
Anyway, one of the displays, one of the exhibits was you walked within the museum, you walked into this dome.
And the dome had this screen that was like 360 and it explained how outer space works.
I understood nothing, absolutely nothing, and it made it inaccessible for me and it i went in there with my heart excited to learn about this, but it was explained in a way for nasa employees, not for people with a very limited knowledge of how outer space actually works.
These types of things will inspire young people to get involved, perhaps in careers in the future.
And just for the general public again to raise the bar of their scientific literacy.
And it's one thing to talk about science and another to experience it.
What kinds of events and experiences are taking place across China to bring science closer to everyday life?
Well, here in Beijing, for example, the city of Beijing will host the launch and closing ceremonies of the month.
And Beijing will have over 100 related exhibitions and activities planning.
And the Beijing Association for Science and Technology is mobilizing 16 districts, nearly 100 universities and research institutes worldwide, with over 200 associations and more than a thousand enterprises, to open up their labs, their production lines, their exhibition halls, and also collaborating with 120 publishing houses for science reading promotions.
So for kids in Beijing, there are a lot to do, a lot of interactive activities activities actually, and also in the province of Guangdong, where a lot of the robotic companies are based.
They are launching this night science popularization markets that will offer ar glasses and robots and interactive games, so that you know that will definitely attract a lot of people.
Yeah, they're doing things all over the country um hubei fujian henan, guizhou.
Uh, one of my um favorites from the list is from hunan, where they're going to have activities where they'll show breakthroughs in modern agriculture and AI and digital technology.
And I think that one stood out to me because We've talked about those breakthroughs using AI in agriculture in 2025.
So I'd be interested in that one.
And then there was another one that I thought looked quite fun.
In Shanghai, the mansions, the Sinan mansions, am I saying that correctly?
They've transformed into what they're calling a science somewhat interesting science popularization, night market.
And what they're doing there is they're going to have light shows, they're going to have science, magic workshops, AI creation displays.
They're going to have something called Ride the Subway Play Science that connects 21 different science popularization bases.
And they're going to be inviting top scientists to share research stories.
At campuses as well.
So lots going on in Shanghai.
Yeah.
And also they have like local features.
For example, in my hometown in Mongolia, definitely rural sciences, you know, agriculture experts will be the star in that region.
And then, for example, in Chongqing, geology is their sort of focus, area of focus of their activities.
And also, for example, in Gansu, the city of Lanzhou are hosting a tour along the Yellow River.
That will be their local feature.
You can see that they have their local, different characteristics embedded in these activities as well.
That's like a natural advantage.
You know, get out of your classroom and walk a few meters and it's the Yellow River.
You don't get that here in Beijing.
Well, celebrating science is definitely exciting.
If we could take a step back and do a reality check.
How well do you think is the country doing in scientific literacy?
I guess since we need this month, then I guess there's still ways to go.
Well, there's always room for improvement, right?
No matter where you're from in the world, what country we're talking about.
But they did do an international assessment method.
And what they found is that the proportion of Chinese citizens that do possess scientific literacy reached.
15.37% in 2024.
That's an increase of 481 percentage points compared to five years ago and it already meets the phased development goal for 2025, ahead of schedule.
Yeah, we've talked about this term a couple of times already, scientific literacy.
It's basically how people use science to understand the world, or how it shapes their understanding of the world and how it helps them to make significant decisions about their lives.
And this is we're talking about so many things here.
Right.
For example, health literacy.
Well, that's a subset of scientific literacy here.
And when your health literacy is quite high, then you can make better educated decisions on how to take care of your body and improve your health outcomes.
I thought this was fascinating.
The World Health Organization noted that an individual's health literacy and their status in that regard is a stronger predictor of health than their education level.
So that just goes to show the more we know.
And that's just a subset of the whole thing.
But the more we know about the scientific world, the better it helps our daily lives.
Exactly.
And also that I think I want to raise sort of the perspective a little higher here is, when it comes to collective decision making, to have a certain level of scientific literacy is also very important.
I do a podcast called Climate Watch.
Say it again.
I didn't hear it.
I'm doing a podcast called Climate Watch, which focusing on climate change.
And you can see that how, when you are trying to mainstreaming the issue of climate change into every aspect of the society, requires public support.
And where that support can come from is basically from the public's understanding of basic climate sciences.
And that can be missing right now in some cultures in some countries at the moment.
Yeah, no doubt about it, because We see it in the news all the time.
Plastics are bad for the world.
Why?
How?
Right.
These are questions when your scientific literacy bar is raised.
You, as an individual, know the answer to those types of questions.
And again, health is one subset.
Climate is another subset.
We're talking about a lot of different things here.
Yes, indeed.
And there's a lot of pseudo-sciencey stuff or crap out there.
And if you have a basic level of understanding of what science is in all different aspects and fields, it will help you so much not to be fooled by, I guess, sometimes ill-intentioned people who are just looking to profit or something.
Yeah, jump on the internet any day of the week and you'll find something false there.
And that's one of the major advantages of having a population that is scientifically literate is the ability to tell the difference between what is real and what is not real and also ask a lot of questions, ask the right questions and look for the right answers.
From classrooms to VR spaces, from rural villages to megacities.
China's first National Science Popularization Month shows that science belongs to everyone.
Every curious mind that explores questions and experiments helps shape the future.
Coming up next, would you tell a stranger to stub out their cigarette?
Some social media influencers in China are doing just that and sparking a big debate about health and public space.
Stay tuned.
Looking for passion?
How about fiery debate?
Want to hear about current events in China from different perspectives?
Then tune in to Roundtable, where East meets West and understanding is the goal.
You're listening to Roundtable with myself, He Yang.
I'm joined by Steve and Fei-Fei in the studio.
A growing number of social media influencers in China are turning their cameras on smokers, politely but firmly asking them to stub it out.
Their clips are going viral and they're stirring up a big conversation about public health and personal freedom.
One of our listeners, Meng Jin Zhou from Shanghai, actually wrote in back in July to share her thoughts on how much she's annoyed by public smoking, asking how ordinary citizens can safely and effectively speak up against it.
And it's a question that hits right at the heart of today's discussion.
What's driving this wave of citizen-led anti-smoking action that's starting online?
Yeah, there are influencers that are leading the charge.
Zhang Yu in Shanghai.
There's a British expat known as Alan that have racked up millions of views on Xiaohongshu a red note.
And what they're doing is they are confronting smokers in shopping malls, in restaurants, in hospitals.
Alan has about 180,000 followers and 4 million likes on Twitter. that particular topic.
Zhang says 99% of the feedback he gets is supportive.
People are saying that they've been inspired to step in themselves.
Sometimes they'll change their usernames or their profile photos to show that they're a part of this anti-smoking movement too.
It's not happening in a vacuum.
Of course, Shanghai.
They rolled out a pilot rule this year banning smoking while walking at eight different landmark sites.
And now citizens can get involved.
They can call the 12345 hotline to report violators, and that gives these activists some official backing too.
And China has actually had and continued to enforce anti-smoking regulations and it's been going on for years and we've seen some improvement.
But why are some people still lighting up in places like where they shouldn't?
And also, can I please remind everyone that actually nowadays, smoking indoors is not as prevalent as it was, let's say, a decade ago, but often it is, let's say, smoking on the sidewalk.
It's in the open air, but it's still very annoying for most passerbys who don't smoke.
And that's a big part of the discussion here as well.
Well, you know, China's had anti-smoking regulations for years, but.
The problem, weak enforcement?
Maybe not.
I think the problem is that the fine is quite small.
In Shanghai, the fine for individuals is capped at 200 yuan.
That's about about $28.
So that's not enough, many people think, to make people change their opinion.
So if perhaps you had a higher charge, a higher fine for people who violated, then you wouldn't see as many violators.
Let me give you Toronto Canada, as an example of.
Under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, Ontario's the province and Toronto's the city.
This is back from 2017.
You cannot smoke or vape in any enclosed workspace, any enclosed public space or any other places designated as smoke-free and vape-free.
$1,000 for a first offense and $5,000 for any further offense if convicted.
That's enough to stop people from lighting up or vaping where they are not supposed to.
Yeah.
And I think another issue is basically with awareness.
Because I remember when Beijing first implemented that ban on indoor smoking.
I think it was more than 10 years ago.
I talked to some of the restaurants.
At that time.
They have signs of non-smoking within their restaurants, but there are still people lighting up their cigarettes within that indoor facilities.
And the restaurants are complaining that they can ask the customers to put out the cigarettes.
But if the customers choose not to, There isn't really much that they can do.
Yeah, I think.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
I think culture might play a little bit of a role here if the customers are older, maybe approaching senior citizen age, where a young waiter or waitress you know 19, 20 years old, speaking to a grandpa saying hey, do this, you can't do that here.
That might be a little awkward.
Am I right there or am I way off?
That can be.
But at the same time, if you ask politely, I don't think it's a big no-no.
So, yeah.
But I think it's really enforcement is the difficult part.
Like, who's going to come and collect the fines for the facilities or the venues?
Apparently, it's 30,000 yuan is the utmost fine.
Yeah.
And you can threaten the venue owner.
And sometimes I know they want to comply, but they don't want to lose their customers.
But now you know, with these social media influencers, they have the camera in your face and you're going to go viral.
Try that.
That'll work almost every time.
If you're thinking about doing this, though, be careful when you're approaching strangers.
Safety is your number one priority.
That's very good to keep in mind, Steve.
And that brings us to the end of today's show.
Thank you so much, Steve and Fei-Fei, for joining the discussion.
Thank you for tuning in.
You can find us on Apple Podcasts at Roundtable China.
I'm Ha Young.
We'll see you next time.
