China has been facing an on-going issue of air pollution. Now, a lot of Chinese residents are seeking refuge from the smog that's been choking the whole country which led them to seek for lung cleansing trips in far-flung places. One of the best destinations that would give clean and fresh air is Iceland and Antarctica.
According to The Telegraph, recent surveys have confirmed that most online searches coming from Chinese locals are about "lung cleansing", "smog escape" and "forests." In fact, a lot of travel agencies in China are even offering travel packages to places with clean air. A few of the destinations with clean air have been mentioned like Iceland, Antarctica, Seychelles and Maldives.
However, with the recent pollution problem, it's not only the Chinese locals that are trying to escape the smog but tourists coming to China are also doing the same thing. Bloomberg reported that Beijing's tourist sites have decreased to 24% in terms of a number of visitors during the holidays. It wasn't really clear if the decreasing number of visitors is caused by the pollution problem but Chinese tourism is taking a big hit.
The pollution issue has caused Beijing along with 62 other cities to announce health alerts since Jan. 1. In fact, hundreds of flights have been affected which resulted in delays and cancellations.
ASEAN Breaking News also reported that some schools in Beijing are now addressing the situation as well by having air purification systems in their classrooms. Pollution is now becoming a big problem and more people are affected by it.
The Chinese government is now trying to address the situation by closing down 500 high-polluting factories. It's also trying to force 2560 factories to upgrade their equipment and enhance their clean-up operations. Vehicle restrictions will also be imposed next month to high-polluting vehicles.
More cities in China are now suffering under these unhealthy conditions. It's no wonder why more residents are trying to seek for lung cleansing trips because it's not just a minor pollution problem.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
