China Building Tobacco Museum (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

China Building Tobacco Museum
Thursday, May 20, 1999; 10:38 a.m. EDT

SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- China's tobacco-growing southwest is building a
museum dedicated to the history and health dangers of cigarettes, the
state-run Xinhua News Agency said Thursday.

The museum is located in the city of Yuxi in Kunming province and owned by
the Yuxi Cigarette Factory, the biggest facility of its kind in Asia,
Xinhua said.

With an estimated 320 million smokers, China is the world's biggest
cigarette producer, but the government in recent years has begun trying to
discourage smoking. 

The new museum, the first of its kind in China, will display documents and
other materials on the history of the industry and the dangers of smoking,
Xinhua said.

Yunnan is China's biggest tobacco producer, but is trying to diversify
into tourism and other industries. Xinhua said Yunnan cut tobacco output
by almost half last year, but did not give any figures.