Housing, education, immigration, healthcare: How smog alters Chinese lifestyles
Continuous haze over China’s urban areas is prodding more Chinese to mull their options in coping with the country’s air pollution crisis. Growing numbers of rich and middle-class Chinese are considering moving to less-developed areas in China or leaving the country entirely due to air pollution. Some have bought real estate in Hainan Island and western Yunnan province. Others have purchased houses in Jeju Island in Korea and Chiang Mai in Thailand as second homes. Such real estate purchases cannot be correlated statistically with the bad air problem. But the heavy haze has undoubtedly made some Chinese cities and towns less suitable for living. Some households who can’t afford to leave are also adopting practical strategies to deal with the problem. Electronic air cleaners , for example, have become indispensable items in places like offices, bedrooms, restaurants and cars. Some folks put on masks imported from abroad and change them every day. Some people completely ignore th...