鄭州市民免費品嚐"袋裝空氣"

Proving that China's fight against pollution has moved decisively into the realm of parody, bags containing mountain air were being shipped into one particularly smog-addled city over the weekend.

在剛剛過去的這個週末，20只裝有山間空氣的袋子被運到中國一座空氣污染極其嚴重的城市，讓公衆免費品嚐。此舉給中國的抗污之戰做了諷刺的註腳。

No, it wasn't a scene from Spaceballs . According to the organizer, a Henan-based travel company, 20 bright blue bags of air were shipped to Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan province, as a special treat for residents. The air originated from Laojun Mountain, some 120 miles away from the city, and was brought as part of a promotional gimmick to show oxygen-deprived city residents what they're missing.

這可不是電影《太空炮彈》(Spaceballs)中的場景。據主辦方――河南一家旅行社說，20個裝滿新鮮空氣的藍色袋子被免費贈予鄭州市民品嚐。這些空氣來自距鄭州約120英里（約190公里）的老君山，宣傳的目的是要增進市民對空氣污染的認識。

In its account of the event, the state-run China News Service said that some of the residents who lined up for the chance to inhale--they were limited to a few minutes each--tried to wring the bags in order to extract every bit of air possible.

據中國官方媒體中國新聞社(China News Service)的描述，市民們排隊只爲一“吸”爲快，每人限吸幾分鐘，意猶未盡的市民甚至“擰乾”已經乾癟的空氣袋，擠出最後一縷空氣。

'I felt my baby move right when I breathed in,' one pregnant woman who participated in the event told the agency. 'I would love to walk in the mountain's forests after my child is born,' Sun added. China's environmental ministry announced last week that Zhengzhou was among the country's top 10 most-polluted cities. Its AQI on Monday was an unhealthy 158. By contrast, the Monday AQI forecast for Bakersfield, CA, the most polluted city in the U.S., was 45.

一位參與活動的孕婦說，她感覺自己吸氣的時候肚子裏的孩子都往右動了一下，等孩子出生後她一定要去山林裏走走。據上週中國環境監測部門發佈的信息，鄭州是中國10大污染最嚴重的城市之一，週一該市空氣質量指數(AQI)達到了158的“不健康”水平。 相比之下，美國污染最嚴重的城市――加利福尼亞州貝克斯菲爾德週一的AQI爲45。

The canned-air idea is hardly unique to Henan: Rags-to-riches Chinese tycoon Chen Guangbiao, known for his splashy publicity stunts, including his past efforts to woo the owners of the New York Times, began selling such cans in 2012.

“罐裝空氣”絕非河南獨有。以愛造噱頭聞名、一度想收購《紐約時報》(New York Times)的中國鉅富陳光標早在2012年就賣過這種罐頭。

In case you weren't among one of the lucky ones who got a lungful in Henan this weekend, China Real Time has your how-to on buying a perhaps more practical tool here.

如果你沒能有幸在河南一品新鮮空氣的話，請參考《中國實時報》(China Real Time)關於如何選購防霾口罩的文章。