Over the past few years, public concern about the health effects of air pollution has increased considerably in China. PM2.5 became a buzzword online and the state of the air quality is a common topic of discussion among citizens. The attention to air pollution and PM2.5 has been fostered by a number of events: The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the US Embassy that started tweeting in 2008, PM2.5 concentrations in Beijing, the APEC-conference in 2014, and the launch of the documentary ‘Under the Dome’ in 2015.

To get a sense of the impact of the haze on citizens’ everyday lives, we visited some of Beijing’s citizens. We discussed the air quality in their city and how they try to mitigate the negative effects of air pollution. In the next video, you will meet Mrs. Ying. Like many of Beijing’s citizens, she lives with her family and child in an apartment building in a dense urban area. Fan Yechao, PhD candidate in environmental sociology at Renmin University of China, will ask her how she experiences the haze and how she tries to mitigate its negative effects on her and her child. She shows you the facemasks she wears when pollution levels are high and her air purifiers, of which she has three in her apartment.