The ultimate Chinese souvenir… SMOG in a can! Entrepreneur starts selling tins of polluted air from Beijing

  • The bizarre product, named Beijing Air, is sold in the city for $4 (£3)
  • According to its inventor, hundreds of cans are purchased every day
  • It bucks the trend of Chinese consumers buying 'fresh air' from Canada 

By Annabel Fenwick Elliott for MailOnline

Published: 09:31 EST, 28 October 2016 | Updated: 14:00 EST, 28 October 2016

A British entrepreneur living in China has the jackpot by selling a highly unusual souvenir - canned pollution. 

Dominic Johnson-Hill, who runs a clothing store in Beijing, has seen thousands of cans of Beijing Air fly off the shelves - priced at $4 (£3) - many of them purchased by customers elsewhere in China.

'It was actually just a bit of fun that hit a mark,' he remarked in a discussion on YouTube. 

A British entrepreneur living in China has the jackpot by selling a highly unusual souvenir - canned pollution, sold as Beijing Air (pictured) and priced at $4 (£3)

Chinese consumers have been buying cans of 'clean' air from countries like Canada ever since Beijing issued its first ever air pollution red alert last year - paying a premium for a mere sniff of foreign freshness.

Mr Johnson-Hill's light-hearted mission was to turn this on its head. 

'I was actually approached to design for one of these brands and I just thought, how ridiculous that product was,' he reveals to Ruptly.

'So I thought, why not try pushing it the other way?'

He goes on: 'I was completely shocked because from the moment we released it, especially online, we ended up with thousands of orders. 

'Last Friday, I was sitting in my office and it was 350 pollution out there [ranked by the government as 'severe'], and I saw a stack of 200 cans of Beijing air heading out all over China.'

Dominic Johnson-Hill (pictured), who launched the product, says: 'It was actually just a bit of fun that hit a mark'

He added: 'I was completely shocked because from the moment we released it, especially online, we ended up with thousands of orders'

According to Mr Johnson-Hill his shop, Plaster 8, is selling hundreds of Beijing air cans every day.

The website reads: 'Now you can take Beijing with you where ever you go. Conveniently canned for your use, each can contains a unique blend of Oxygen, Nitrogen and some other stuff.'

Potential stocking filler?

'These cans are light, portable, you can just imagine someone’s face when they unwrap if for Christmas,' Mr Johnson-Hill surmises. 

For years, Chinese consumers have been buying cans of 'clean' air from countries like Canada for up to £42 a pop, from companies such as this one

Especially since Beijing issued its first ever air pollution red alert last year - citizens have been paying a premium for a mere sniff of foreign freshness

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