--- title: China Air Pollution: Artist Sells Air From France in a Jar description: Beijing artist Liang Kegang auctioned off a jar of fresh French air as a form of protest against Chinese air pollution canonical: https://time.com/57372/fresh-air-sells-for-860-a-jar-in-china/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-10T14:45:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:06:12.126Z og:title: In China, a jar of fresh French air goes for $860 og:description: Beijing artist Liang Kegang auctioned off a jar of fresh French air as a form of protest against Chinese air pollution og:url: https://time.com/57372/fresh-air-sells-for-860-a-jar-in-china/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec20e806b1bf9c9b/698689ff13c79fcf611918a4/china-jar-of-clean-ai_stam.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: China Jar of Clean Air og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: In China, a jar of fresh French air goes for $860 twitter:description: Beijing artist Liang Kegang auctioned off a jar of fresh French air as a form of protest against Chinese air pollution twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec20e806b1bf9c9b/698689ff13c79fcf611918a4/china-jar-of-clean-ai_stam.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Fresh Air Sells for $860 a Jar in China by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Apr 10, 2014 2:45 PM UTC  Beijing artist Liang Kegang is pictured with the jar of fresh air collected in Provence, France, in an art gallery in Beijing, China. Beijing artist Liang Kegang is pictured with the jar of fresh air collected in Provence, France, in an art gallery in Beijing, China.Didi Tang—AP by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Apr 10, 2014 2:45 PM UTC A Beijing artist has decided to [auction off](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/jar-of-french-mountain-air%5Fn%5F5123640.html?&ir=World&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000017) a jar of fresh air from a business trip to southern France, as a form of artistic protest against his smoggy city. The rubber-sealed jar of Provence, mountain air went for 5,250 yuan (or $860), the Associated Press reports. “Air should be the most valueless commodity, free to breathe for any vagrant or beggar,” Liang Kegang told the AP. “This is my way to question China’s foul air and express my dissatisfaction.” [Chinese scientists recently said](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/25/china-toxic-air-pollution-nuclear-winter-scientists) the air pollution is so bad that it’s “somewhat similar to a nuclear winter.” Artistic message aside, Liang’s air isn’t a bargain: Recycling tycoon Chen Guangbiang sells “Good Person”-branded fresh air in a can to Chinese consumers for $3 a pop. \[[_AP_](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/jar-of-french-mountain-air%5Fn%5F5123640.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/57372/fresh-air-sells-for-860-a-jar-in-china/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/57372/fresh-air-sells-for-860-a-jar-in-china/"},"headline":"Fresh Air Sells for $860 a Jar in China","datePublished":"2014-04-10T14:45:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:06:12.126Z","description":"Beijing artist Liang Kegang auctioned off a jar of fresh French air as a form of protest against Chinese air pollution","url":"https://time.com/57372/fresh-air-sells-for-860-a-jar-in-china/","keywords":["Newsfeed","France","China","Pollution","Beijing","Art","Asia","World","Air"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec20e806b1bf9c9b/698689ff13c79fcf611918a4/china-jar-of-clean-ai_stam.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec20e806b1bf9c9b/698689ff13c79fcf611918a4/china-jar-of-clean-ai_stam.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"China Jar of Clean Air","caption":"China Jar of Clean Air","creditText":"Didi Tang—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/57372/fresh-air-sells-for-860-a-jar-in-china/","name":"Fresh Air Sells for $860 a Jar in China"}}]}] ```