Law not a silver bullet for our problems

People in the two rival cities of Shanghai and Beijing now have something common to talk about.

Beijing's subway Line 4, to start in late September and run by a joint venture with Hong Kong MTR Corp, will ban food and drink. If all goes well, this rule may be extended to eight subway lines in the capital.

While Beijing's ban is merely a notice by the subway operator and does not have teeth, Shanghai intends to go further by including its ban on food, drink and folding bikes in a local regulation on rail transport, to be ratified by the local legislature. A public hearing held early this month, however, couldn't produce a consensus.