14$ for Bottled Canadian Air

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Why People In Beijing Are Buying Cans of Air From Canada - It’s an especially bad time to depend on a nose, mouth, and lungs for breathing if you’re in Beijing. While few can afford the pleasures of a leisurely mountain escape in nearby Zhangjiakou, a whiff of Banff is within reach!

“Red alert” smog levels hit China’s capital city earlier this month—the highest alert issued since the color-coded system debuted in 2013. As a result, some residents are taking the desperate measure of buying clean air from a can.

For Troy Paquette and Moses Lam, it’s a very good time to be in the business of selling an invisible element. After successfully selling sealed plastic bags of air on eBay (the first for 99 cents, the second for $168 after a bidding war), the duo started Vitality Air in 2014.