Abstract: Objective To identify knowledge about adverse health effects of tobacco and to examine the support for smoke-free policy in Shantou. Methods Waiting passengers in large-scale bus terminals were selected by purposive sampling method. Face-to-face questionnaire survey were conducted to examine demographic information, cigarette smoking habit, knowledge about adverse health effects of smoking, awareness of smoking bans and support for smoke-free policy. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with the attitude towards smoking bans in public places. Results A total of 502 waiting passengers were surveyed. Among them, 81.9% (411/502) were male and 18.1% (91/502) were female. 60.6% (304/502) were under 30 years old. 88.5% (431/487) knew that smoking was harmful to health. The proportion of respondents who knew that smoking could cause lung cancer was 73.2% (357/488), much higher than that of coronary heart disease (19.5%, 95/488) and stroke (6.6%, 32/488), respectively. 69.0% (339/491) knew that secondhand smoke could cause lung cancer, while 22.4% (110/491) knew about coronary heart disease. 96.6% (475/502) of the respondents agreed with the smoke bans in pubic places. However, only 6.9% (31/447) knew about the policy for smoke-free places. 48.7% (242/497) believed that legislation could effectively ban smoking in public places. 46.9% (233/497) selected severe fines and 39.8% (198/497) selected tobacco harm education. 29.2% (145/497) approved of providing free quit-smoking products. 26.2% (130/497) selected bans on tobacco advertising and 18.9% (94/497) selected raising taxes on tobacco. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that education (OR=12.283), knowledge about health hazards of smoking (OR=5.267) and awareness of smoking bans (OR=0.357) were associated with support for on smoking bans in pubic places. Conclusion Respondents in Shantou were strongly supportive of smoking bans in public places. Support for smoke-free public settings is associated with education, knowledge about health hazards of smoking and awareness of smoking bans. Policy makers should proactively utilize this unique feature to implement effective and potentially well-accepted smoking ban program in Shantou.