Do not throw anything from balconies or windows — cigarette butts, trash bags, and bottles all count

Throwing things downstairs can bring detention for under 5 days or a fine of up to 1000 yuan even if no one is hit; when circumstances are serious, detention for 10 to 15 days. Hitting someone changes the charge: someone on the 21st floor, drunk, threw empty bottles and glass cups onto a playground below, seriously injured a 13-year-old student, and got 10 years. Someone else threw 8 bricks from the 32nd floor and killed 1 person; in 2024 the death sentence was approved.

Cost

No money and no real time. Take cigarette butts, trash bags, and bottles to an indoor bin; do not toss them from windows or balconies.

Benefit

Throwing objects down from upstairs or another height, whenever there is a risk of injuring people, damaging property, or endangering public safety, can bring detention for under 5 days or a fine of up to 1000 yuan. When circumstances are serious, detention for 10 to 15 days, with a further fine of up to 1000 yuan. When circumstances are serious enough for the crime of throwing objects from a height, up to 1 year, with a fine imposed together with or instead of imprisonment (sentenced and fined, or only fined). Injuring or killing someone is handled under heavier charges. Official case: Li, drunk on the 21st floor, threw empty bottles and glass cups onto a playground below, seriously injured a 13-year-old student at level 2 serious injury, and was sentenced to 10 years for endangering public safety by dangerous means. Zhou threw 8 bricks from the 32nd floor into a crowd and killed 1 person; in 2024 the Supreme People’s Court approved the death sentence (nationwide)

Notes

Detention can apply even if no one is hit; the text only requires “danger.” The Civil Code has a separate civil-compensation rule for objects thrown from a height (Article 1254). At the time of writing the original text could not be opened, so it is not cited.

Sources · 5

1. 全国人大常委会 (2025). 治安管理处罚法（2025 年修订，第四十三条）. spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202506/t20250627_699863.shtml
2. 全国人大常委会 (2020). 刑法修正案（十一）（第三十三条，即刑法第二百九十一条之二）. spp.gov.cn/zdgz/202012/t20201227_503682.shtml
3. 全国人大 (2020). 刑法（根据刑法修正案（十一）修正，第二百九十一条之二）. jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/11033925…
4. 最高人民法院 (2024). 依法惩治危害公共安全犯罪典型案例（案例一）. court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/429522.html
5. 最高人民法院 (2025). 专访最高法副院长李勇：让高空抛物行为人都能被处罚. court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/458381.html