Pollution Masks in China… As Fashion?
Hi all, I need to apologize for being MIA in the last two months! Unfortunately, reading and writing papers in Chinese is really taking a toll on my sleep cycle and stress levels. It also doesn’t help that the construction workers are working on a subway system right in front of my dorm. In China, there are no regulations that ban them from using jackhammers at 2 a.m. But anyway, I digress…
I wanted to write a post about the latest fashion trend in Nanjing and Shanghai: pollution masks also known as 口罩. In the last week, pollution levels in several cities in China soared past 400 (pollution is usually at about 100-150 in Nanjing). When I first moved to China, I thought the masks were unnecessary, but last week the air was so bad that it made my eyes itch and you could physically feel the particles in the air. I thought that pollution was nothing to freak out about until I experienced all of this. At school, everyone was talking about different models of filters and designer mask brands. One of my American professors even wore a $75 pollution mask during the entire class. Another professor talked about the supply and demand of products that pollution would cause: one of the more well-known brands of masks called 3M sold out on Taobao last week. Below are some images of the popular things sold amid the pollution frenzy.
