The Chinese city of Chongqing has created a smartphone pavement lane, seemingly offering a path for those too engrossed in messaging and tweeting to watch where they are going.

But a spokesman said it is intended to be ironic - to remind people that it is dangerous to tweet while walking in the street. "There are lots of elderly people and children in our street, and walking with your mobile phone may cause unnecessary collisions here," said Nong Cheng, the marketing official with Meixin Group, which manages the area in the city's entertainment zone.

Meixin has marked a 50-metre stretch of pavement with two lanes: one that prohibits mobile phone use next to one that allows pedestrians to use them - at their "own risk".