These visitors to the scenic Lianshan mountain in Qingyuan, in the northern part of China's Guangdong province, add a twist to the saying "come up for air".

Here, they are buying plastic bags filled with air from the mountainous environment protection zone peddled by local ethnic vendors.

Many places in southern China's Guangdong have been blanketed by heavy smog in the past week. This has led many city residents to visit the mountain, where 85 per cent of the land is covered by forests.

Local villagers of the Zhuang and Yao ethnic groups, who often sell home-grown specialities in thearea, have come up with the idea of selling bagged clean air to visitors. The price of a large bag of air is 30 yuan (about S$6), while a smaller bag goes for 10 yuan.