Vaping is growing more popular in Shanghai's expat community. Photo: CFP

Seated in the back room of The Shed bar in Jing'an district, Gavin Llewellyn took a drag from a rectangular metal box and blew out a cloud thick enough to hide behind. The avuncular Australian was demonstrating the massive billows that one can create with a souped-up electronic cigarette.

Llewellyn's demonstrations, which included building electronic cigarette components, were part of the Shanghai Vape Meet on December 13, an event devoted to electronic cigarettes and their use - vaping.

Although electronic cigarettes remain little more than a curiosity in China, the market has exploded elsewhere. Reuters reported in January that electronic cigarette sales in the US grew 115 percent each year from 2009 to 2012 and could jump by as much as 240 percent this year.

As the market for electronic cigarettes has grown in other countries, vaping has become more popular in Shanghai's expat community. The Shanghai Vape Meet was a sign of this. The event was organized by Shanghai Vape and the Vapina Vape Club, two vendors of vaping products in Shanghai. Llewellyn works for the latter.

There are many types of electronic cigarettes, or vapes. One of the most popular is a short metal tube that resembles a conventional cigarette. In the vaping community, it's known as a cigalike, and is sold under popular brands like Blu.

Most of the people at this meeting had already moved on to more sophisticated devices that use more powerful batteries and more complex tank systems, including clearomizers and rebuildable atomizers.

Electronic cigarettes all work more or less the same way. A battery shoots electricity through a metal coil, which heats up the e-liquid and turns it into vapor so it can be inhaled, giving the user a hit of nicotine. But unlike conventional cigarettes, there's no combustion. Because nothing burns, the vapor is free of many of the harmful side effects of tobacco smoke. Still, experts say more research needs to be done on vaping to ensure it's completely safe. Most of the people at the meeting were current or former cigarette smokers.

Considering the growing prevalence of electronic cigarettes and their relative novelty in Shanghai, the Global Times attended the vape meet to find out why people decide to start vaping and if they have any concerns.

Sean Dickinson, owner of Shanghai Vape, the UK

I was a smoker for about 16 or 17 years. The first time I had an electronic cigarette was about four years ago when one of my Chinese friends bought me a cigalike. And it was terrible. I used it once or twice when I was having a drink. I didn't know how strong the nicotine was or whether there was any nicotine in it. The feeling wasn't great. And then earlier this year, one of my friends was using a clearomizer he had got from a vape market. I was smoking cigarettes, but he seemed very happy with his vape. So I started using one of his spares. And that was probably in January or February of this year. After that I went back to the UK and I stocked up on more cigalikes. And they were OK, but they weren't strong enough for me. So I did some more research, and eventually, I bought one of the Kanger EVODs. And that's one of the reasons why I sell it. Because that's what helped me stop smoking. So in about May, I started to use that, and gradually, over the next couple of months, I reduced my cigarette intake. And the last cigarette I had was in July. So, I'm very happy now.

The business was something that I fell into. Because I was using vapes, all my friends would ask me: "Where did you get that from? Can you buy me one?" So it didn't start a business. It was helping people out. And that's still the philosophy. It's not about trying to make loads of money. It's about trying to help people make better decisions.

Laurent Montcoutie, commodities worker, France

This is my first vape meet. I'm new to vaping. It's very popular in Europe and very popular in France. In China, I thought I would try to smoke less, but the opposite turned out to be true. You just smoke more here because it is easier. You can smoke everywhere. I wanted to do something about it, and I had tried other things like patches and gums, but wasn't really successful. So, I decided to try vaping. I thought it was pretty effective. I liked it. So I continued vaping and smoking at the same time, but smoking less, and then just vaping.

I haven't smoked for two months. I used to smoke one to two packs a day.

Once I got interested in vaping, I read a lot about it, and in France I heard a lot about it. So I knew it was effective. So that was not the issue. The issue was whether it was healthy. So I tried to read a lot about it. And I still have a little bit of concern about vaping in the long term.

I like it. I enjoy it. I want to do it for a few months, a year, two years maybe. But I also want to quit vaping at some point.

Wang Long, teacher, the US

I quit smoking cold turkey two weeks ago. It will be almost 10 years since I started smoking. I started very young. I was up to about a half pack a day of 12 milligram cigarettes. And I then got sick. But I kept smoking while sick. That's when you realize that you're disgusting.

A lot of my buddies would whip out a Blu e-cig, or a gas station one. I tried that, and it was no substitute. Then I went online and did some more research. And it interested me and I decided to try it out. It's no real substitute for a warm, throat-hitting cigarette, but honestly, my goal is to quit, not to find a substitute. It's easy to transfer an addiction.

Gavin Llewellyn, Vapina Vape Club, Australia

When I moved to China, the first thing I noticed was the cigarettes were cheap. Being a smoker this was unfortunately good news for me, but obviously not for my health.

I started vaping after an American, Christian Ong, the founder of the Vapina Vape Club, sent me my first basic setup with e-juice from the US. I work now closely with Chris to get this out there in China and to help others quit smoking. It has sort of become a personal goal now of mine.

Some people stick with the ego setups because they're small and similar in size to that of a cigarette. You can have a vape when you feel like a cigarette and the liquid that contains nicotine can satisfy the craving. Some people stay on higher nicotine, 24 milligrams, and have the occasional vape and that's enough. I am now down to 6 milligrams or 3 milligrams of nicotine, but more and more now I'm actually enjoying the variety of flavors and not chasing the nicotine anymore.

I haven't smoked a cigarette since I bought this kit and I am now coming up to eight months. I was a pack and a half a day smoker and I smoked for 10 years before trying e-cigarettes.

Simeon Duke, media employee, the US

I smoked for about two years and when I run out of liquid, I still smoke - I admit it. Because I still use nicotine, I need my hit. Usually, when I go out with my friends and I run out of liquid or my battery dies, I'll ask for a cigarette after 20 or 30 minutes. But I'll just smoke half of it because I can't handle the taste. I just get the quick fix and then throw it away.

My friend introduced vaping to me. In the beginning, I didn't really get a lot of help about battery safety or what kind of liquid I should use. I assumed I should go with a liquid with a higher level of nicotine. So I started on 24 milligrams. At the same time, it wasn't the same hit as you would get with a cigarette.

I actually had a lot of questions. And I wanted to stop smoking, so I did some research on YouTube and after that it was easier to decide what kind of liquid I should use.

Ralph Hendry, kindergarten teacher, the UK

I was never a heavy smoker. I only smoked one or two cigarettes a day. And when I drank, I smoked more, but never a ludicrous amount of cigarettes.

I started vaping two or three months ago. I had seen it before, but all the choices are a bit much. I'm friends with Sean, and when he started, he explained everything to me - what it was about and how it worked. It seemed like a good idea.

I liked the different flavors the most. I liked that you can switch it up. Also, I don't like to smoke in my house. My girlfriend doesn't smoke, so if I smoke inside, the whole house stinks. And just one cigarette will stink up the place. But I can sit on the sofa, watch TV and vape and it's not a problem.

Benjamin Briandet, software engineer, the US

I heard about the event online. And I was curious because I'm really into tinkering with things. I've used e-cigarettes, but I'm not really a big smoker. I'm more drawn to the tinkering. I'm really into 3D printing and automotive stuff, like I have a motorcycle that I like to work on. I like anything that you can take off the shelf and make it more personalized - anything that makes it more yours.

So I was curious. On the website, they were talking about teaching people how to blow big clouds, how to make their own custom coils and how to make a drip. So I decided to come down and see what they're doing.

It's cool. I watched a guy rebuild a coil. I had never seen these things disassembled before. So I was really interested to see what goes on. It was just a really interesting look into this culture that I didn't know existed.