On October 29, state run Newspaper China Daily reported that eating, drinking, standing on seats, playing music on speakers, lying down, and other “uncivilized behaviors” will be banned nationwide starting in April 2020. This represents the first time that legislation has been passed which affects the entire country’s subway system, previously legislation was passed in each city/region as to what the laws were of that portion of subway.
Similar laws have already been in place in regions like Beijing, where since 2015 it was illegal to eat or drink on the subway. With a fine of about $70 as consequence. China’s Ministry of Transport approved the nationwide legislation, stating “Providing safe and convenient travel services for passengers is always the fundamental starting point and the foothold of urban subway transit.” Although strict, the legislation does have food and drink exceptions for babies, small children, and people with medical conditions.
From my own personal experience taking the NYC subway to work everyday, sometimes I wish that laws like this were in place. In general subways are unsanitary, which makes me question why you would want to eat food on a train in the first place. However, I do believe that people should have the right to eat or drink on the subway if they’re not harming anyone else (spilling a full meal on the floor, consuming alcohol). Public locations such as a subway system should be as welcoming and problem free for everyone, albeit banning the consumption of liquids and snacks is too far. I believe that if people were brought up and learned how to act responsibly that laws like this would never be passed in the first place, taking some of the little freedom that Chinese citizens enjoy away from them. Nobody should be allowed to stand on seats or act in an “uncivilized manor”, but banning people from drinking a water bottle or eating a granola bar infringes upon the individual freedom that we all should have.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/china-subway-eating-ban-intl-hk/index.html