Smoking in public is ranked first among the top ten bad habits damaging air quality in Beijing, a recent survey says.

Other culprits include bad driving habits and the use of pollution-inducing decorative materials. More than 180,000 Internet users participated in the survey, part of the drive towards holding a "green Olympics" next year.

A survey organizer told Xinhua Net that more and more residents in the capital are aware that smoking in public is harmful to the air they breathe.

Beijing, with 4 million smokers, has already banned smoking in taxis. Smoking will also be forbidden on other forms of public transportation and in restaurants before the 2008 Olympics.

(CRI October 29, 2007)