上海・タクシー・痰

中国といえば、あたり構わず痰を吐くというイメージもあるわけだが、先ずはReutersの記事;


Spitting image of Shanghai

Mon Jan 22, 9:39 PM ET

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Taxi drivers in China's financial capital of Shanghai are to be issued with "spit sacks" to curb their habit of rolling down their windows and hawking into the road, state media reported on Tuesday.


Phlegmatic cabbies will soon have a sack fixed to the metal grill that surrounds the driver's seat, so that both they and their passengers can make use of it.

The special sacks will be distributed to 45,000 taxis by the Shanghai Patriotic Sanitation Committee to curb spitting in public places, a habit Chinese authorities have long been trying to discourage.

"The 'no spitting' regulation came after Shanghai decided to make people give up the ugly and unhygienic habit and present a healthy city for the 2010 World Expo," the China Daily said.

The spit sack follows an earlier innovation in Shanghai's public hygiene, after the city attached spittoons to garbage cans on sidewalks, the newspaper reported.

The spittoons, however, were not a success. Residents mistook them for ashtrays.

Organizers of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, worried about the reaction of visitors, have repeatedly said the capital needs to teach its people to stand in line, stop spitting and littering and generally be better mannered.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070123/ts_nm/china_spit_dc

このことは、地元では既に1月18日付で報道されている――DONG Zhen “Spitting image: Cabbies on notice”Shanghai Daily。この記事では、”For many short-stay visitors to Shanghai, taxi drivers may be among the few locals they shape part of the visitors’ first impression of our city.”という当局者の弁を載せている。また、2006年の年初と年末にランダムに選ばれた上海市内の70箇所強で30分あたりの痰吐きの回数を調査したところ、年初の164回から年末には46回に減っていたという。
また、24日付けのShanghai Dailyには、上の記事にあるタクシーに痰を吐くための紙袋を常備するという対策への批判(読者投稿)が掲載されている;


Patricia MAHAR “Don’t give spit bags to taxi drivers”
Tony Corkill “Cabbie spit bags okays ugly habit”


痰の入った紙袋が車の中に溜まったらどうするんだとか袋ごと窓から捨てられてしまったらどうするんだとか。