China: ‘Air-pocalypse’ blights half a billion, smog refugees flee nation

London [UK], Dec. 21 : With the world's most populated nation being hit by "airpocalyse" reducing people to survive under a blanket of toxic fumes, several of "smog refugees" have reportedly fled China's pollution-stricken north.

According to the Guardian, large sections of north and central China have been living under pollution "red alert" since last Friday when a toxic concoction of pollutants transformed the skies into a yellow and charcoal-tinted haze.

Lauri Myllyvirta, a Beijing-based Greenpeace activist, said that in an attempt to shield his lungs he was avoiding going outside and using two air purifiers and an industrial grade dust mask "that makes me look like Darth Vader".

Meanwhile, others have simply opted to flee. According to reports in the Chinese media, flights to some pollution-free regions have been packed as a result of the smog.

Ctrip, China's leading online travel agent, said it expected 150,000 travellers to head abroad this month in a bid to outrun the smog.

Top destinations include Australia, Indonesia, Japan and the Maldives. Yang Xinglin, who also fled to Chongli, said she had requested time off from her job at a state-owned real estate firm so she did not have to inhale the smog.

Li Dongke, a 27-year-old Beijinger, said her entire family had decamped to Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, or the tropical island of Hainan in the South China Sea.

Source: ANI