HANOI, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- People found smoking at 30 landmarks in Vietnam's capital Hanoi will be fined up to 300,000 Vietnamese dong (13 U.S. dollars) on the spot starting this month, said the city authorities.
The landmarks include the Ngoc Son Temple and the Ba Kieu Temple in and around the iconic Sword Lake, the Vietnam National Museum of History, the Hanoi Opera House and the St. Joseph's Cathedral. Signs will be erected in these places warning people not to smoke or face immediate fines.
The move is part of an anti-smoking campaign targeting tourist sites in the capital, local online newspaper VnExpress quoted Pham Thi Thanh Nhan, head of the Hoan Kiem district health center as saying on Friday.
A total of 190 landmarks in Hoan Kiem district, the city's major center for tourism, services and commerce, including the initial 30, would eventually ban smoking altogether, Nhan said.
Vietnam currently has some 17 million smokers and reports some 40,000 deaths each year caused by smoking-related diseases, according to the country's Ministry of Health.
