Bags Of Fresh Air Go on Sale in Chinese Mall and People are Actually Buying Them

September 22, 2016

A shopping mall in China had a huge surprise for its customers on Monday by selling bargain-priced “fresh air”. The bargained bags of air were sold in Xi’an, a city rated as having “moderate” air pollution, but exceeds the WHO safety standard of 25 micrograms by 40 micrograms.

Eager customers flocked to the stall selling bags of fresh air for just 1 yuan ($.15) per bag, according to Tencent (via Shanghaiist). While the sellers didn’t specify where the air was actually from, it must be gathered from somewhere with less pollution than the Shaanxi Province capital.

The lower price of the bags of air is also cause for a sigh of relief since similar “products” are usually sold in premium prices. Canadian startup Vitality Air, for instance, sells Canadian mountain air between $20 and $32 per canister.

Xi’an is known to be constantly plagued by chronic smog problems, especially during winter. According to the database of China’s ministry of environmental protection, Xi’an ranks tenth on the worst air quality list, almost matching Beijing’s pollution levels.

The trend of entrepreneurs trying to cash in on the country’s environmental tragedy may be rather unfortunate given that Chinese smog pollution kills nearly 4,000 people each day.

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