Chinese vendors have been seen selling bags of ‘air’ at a popular hiking destination in the mountains. The bagged-up "fresh air" - can either be taken home to enjoy - or used straight away. Apparently, people who had gone into the mountains in order to escape the heavy smog had gladly dished out the cash to buy the bags of air from the mountain valleys, with many opening them straight away. The sale proves that it is possible to put a price on fresh air, as the village vendors dressed in traditional garbs set up shop in the mountains of China's southern Guangdong Province.
With heavy smog in lower regions of the province, residents of major cities in the Pearl River Delta rushed for higher ground, away from the cities, hoping to cleanse their lungs . Many tourists hiking the mountain trail shared on social media their surprise at signs reading "purchase clean air to purchase a healthy life" and "Unpolluted air - big bags for 30 renminbi (£3) and small bags for 10 renminbi (£1)."
The villagers claimed the fresh air was personally collected from the "heart of the mountain", and tourists ate it up by buying bag after bag of air, which proved a luxury on the smoggy day. The bags even had flower petals in them to make the whiff of air even more pleasant than usual.
It is unclear whether the air-for-sale business is considered legal by authorities, but netizens suggested the villagers would make several times more if they exported the clean air into the cities.
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