Chinese pollution: diners charged for clean air; sales surge in air purifiers

Further to our report yesterday regarding a surge in sales of bottled Canadian air in Beijing, a Shanghai-based restaurant reportedly charged its diners an extra CNY 0.1 as a "clean air fee" for the luxury of eating in its purified environment, resulting in a vigorous debate via the media. Furthermore, winter sales of air purifiers quintupled over the last quarter in China.

BEIJING — Has clean air become such a luxury in China that restaurants can charge patrons for it?

That question raged on Tuesday after Xinhua, the state news agency, reported that a restaurant in the eastern province of Jiangsu was doing just that. The restaurant, in Zhangjiagang, near Shanghai, was adding 1 renminbi, or about 15 cents, per customer as a “clean air fee.”

The restaurant’s move came a week after Beijing issued its first-ever “red alert” over air pollution, causing the capital to come to a virtual standstill. Though the alert ended late last week, the issue of toxic air plaguing Chinese cities has raised fears that the country is trading a healthy living environment for rapid economic growth.

On social media, the debate about the restaurant charge was divided between those contending that clean air is a basic right, not a commodity, and those who countered that the restaurant incurred costs to install purifiers to clean the air and is thus entitled to charge for that service.