The Way To Spit

Now that the Winter Olympics in Turin have ended, people are turning their attention to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The Chinese authorities, in a drive to "modify" the image of China to the outside world, are currently reminding their citizens of "the right way to spit."

Beijing city official Zhang Huiguang is running a multimedia "behavioral training" campaign, this includes lining up properly for buses and turning off mobile phones during meetings.

Needless to say, spitting is the priority.

She is quoted as saying:

"You have to spit into a tissue or a bag, and then put it into a dustbin to complete the process."

Zhang has organised a group of volunteers, wearing bright orange uniforms with the Chinese character for "mucus" in yellow on the back, to hand out "spit bags" in the streets of Beijing.

Given the threat of bird flu, this initiative is taking place not a moment too soon.