A shopping mall in China on Monday, Sept. 19, sold "fresh air" to shoppers.

At 1 RMB a bag, it was considered a steal as the PM2.5 in the air in Xi'an that day was 65 micrograms per cubic meter, according to Tencent.

This level exceeded the World Health Organisation's safety standard of 25 micrograms.

China, however, still labelled the air quality there as "moderate" air pollution.

Xi'an suffers from chronic smog problems just like many of the large Chinese cities, especially during the winter period.

Since 2010, cancer has been the leading cause of death in China. In particular, lung cancer has been accounting for the highest number of deaths since then.

According to the database of China’s environmental protection ministry, Xi’an ranks 10th on the worst air quality list, almost on par with Beijing’s pollution levels.

It is not known where the bags of "fresh air" originated from, but they were probably imported from places with better air quality than the Shaanxi Province capital of Xi'an.

Or maybe not, as it could have been just a gimmick.

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