Li, surname of a 27-year-old woman in Beijing. [Photo by Li Min/China Daily]

Zhang Xuewen, 28, a white-collar worker in Beijing, has been smoking for three years.

When she buries herself in materials to write a marketing report at night or when she brainstorms with colleagues on important matters, she says a cigarette between her fingers is indispensable.

She is among millions of Chinese women enjoying the habit, although traditionally Chinese social norms do not encourage women to smoke.

While Chinese women's smoking prevalence rate is much lower than the men's, the number is projected to rise.

The experience of tobacco use in developed economies shows when the smoking rate among men is high and steady, and when the prevalence rates of smoking-related diseases in men is high, tobacco use in women will increase fast, a 2010 report by the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control said.

Back in college, four girls out of six in her dormitory smoked, and she gradually got used to the smell.

Since graduation, she has been working in different companies in public relations and marketing positions.

The jobs are stressful, and most of her male colleagues smoke.

And when a colleague offered her a cigarette during a brainstorming session, she didn't hesitate to pick it up.

Feeling good

"It feels good to take a short smoking break during intensive work, especially at night," Zhang says.

"It calms me down and helps me concentrate."

Besides, her job requires her to socialize with people, and it is difficult not to smoke in such occasions when all the people around are smoking.

A 27-year-old girl in Beijing, surnamed Li, said she started smoking five years ago, when she felt anxious about looking for a job after college.

She now works in a famous publishing house, and said when she feels tired, upset, or depressed, she will smoke.

Many of her friends smoke, and they often smoke together in bars.

Li said women who smoke have things in common.

"Women who smoke are often very independent, do not want to be controlled by others, and are not afraid to be rebellious," Li said.

However, both Zhang and Li emphasized they are not heavy smokers, and do not dare to smoke in front of their families.

Empowerment

And some women smoke because smoking helps complete their self-perception as being sexy, special, confident, independent, rebellious, or whatever, which is often made use of by tobacco commercials, said Lyu Pin, a Beijing-based women's rights activist.

She said smoking among women is a more complicated issue than just a health issue.

Everyone knows smoking damages health, but smoking is often regarded as masculine behavior related with empowerment, Lyu said.

As women compete in the workplace with men, having higher social and economic status than in the past, they become more independent and care less about what others think about them, but they also need to cope with men's social rules in the workplace and that often entails drinking and smoking, Lyu said.

"Tobacco control is important, but smoking is a social behavior that has multiple meanings to smokers," Lyus said.

"It is important to understand people's motivations behind their adoption of the habit, and not wise to merely threaten them with the health risks, because some rebellious people may regard smoking as a taboo they have to break."