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 "I feel safe at home, but when we go out to the mall, the indoor
and outdoor air are the same," the 34-year-old screenwriter said.
"It feels hopeless."
China's persistent pollution and regular product safety scandals are
driving an increasing number of consumers to build bubbles of clean
air, purified water and safe products at home and in their cars.
Beijing's city government has twice this month issued pollution "red
alerts", the first time it has triggered its most severe smog
warning.
While there is no official data on their numbers, market analysts
say Liu's tastes reflect the concerns of a large and growing group
of well-heeled urban consumers.
Foreign and domestic companies are starting to take notice of what
could be called "bubble families", a demographic whose emergence has
been fueled by new technologies and the rapid spread of e-commerce.
 Though air quality data has been available for years from the
Chinese government - as well as the U.S. embassy and consulates
around the country - public awareness of environmental threats is on
the rise, especially since the February online release of journalist
Chai Jing's environmental documentary "Under the Dome".
Websites such as Alibaba's Taobao.com have made it easier to find
products from overseas that are perceived as safer.
"A LIFE TO PROTECT"
For Xue Peng, a 32-year-old chemical engineer in Shanghai, his
wife's pregnancy three years ago changed everything. "I had a life I
needed to protect. It was my responsibility to give him a safe
environment," he said.
Xue spent about 30,000 yuan ($4,627) on two air purifiers from
Philips and Swedish company Blueair and another 20,000 yuan on a
water purification system from U.S. firm Ecowater. He limited his
toy purchases to big, trusted names such as Lego and Fisher Price.
"Parenthood is a huge catalyst for consumption and upgrading of
certain products," said Elisabeth de Gramont, Shanghai-based vice
president at Jigsaw Communispace, a consumer research group. Among
upper middle class parents in China's bigger cities, buying toys and
skin care products for children from overseas is common, she said.
Min Yoo, managing director for China and Korea at market research
firm YouGov, said that the group of Chinese consumers concerned
about the environment and willing to spend money to protect
themselves included "not just the white-collar cosmopolitan
Chinese".
"It also includes the 50-, 60-year-old local Chinese living in a
city who has never been outside China, whose adult children would
buy these products," he said.
The growing public concerns have presented companies with an
opportunity.
Bosch, the German electronics group, recently began selling an
in-car air purifier and a small air quality monitor developed in
China for the Chinese market.
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Xiaomi, the homegrown electronics brand best known for its
affordable phones, has launched a new line of air and water filters
and monitors. During a November promotion, it sold more than 42,800
air purifiers. By mid-December, it had sold out of its newest model,
released only on Nov. 24.
Origins Technology, a Beijing start-up, sold out of its 499 yuan
Laser Egg handheld air quality monitors during this month’s smog
wave. There is now a waitlist for the product.
THE PRICE OF SAFETY
Imports of bottled water are up sharply in volume terms, rising from
36 million litres two years ago to 46 million litres in the first 10
months of this year, according to Chinese customs.
Imports of food and live animals – Chinese customs includes them in
the same category – rose 63 percent between 2011 and 2014. Online in
China, Evian presents one of its boxes of water as "the choice of
French mothers".
Sales at Fruitday, an app and online platform for imported fruit,
rose 150 percent in 2014 to 500 million yuan, the company said.
Reports of fake goods are common in China. Consumers who can afford
to prefer more expensive products, said James Roy, associate
principal at China Market Research Group.
High-end air purifiers such as the Blueair Pro XL cost 23,220 yuan,
not much less than the average urban annual income of 28,844 yuan,
according to government data.
Replacing all of the filters in other high-end air filters can cost
hundreds of dollars.
Juliet Zhu, a TV presenter, had an air purifier and bought all of
her two young daughters' food and clothing from abroad. Her costs:
as much as 20,000 yuan a month.
Two months ago, Zhu moved with her older daughter from Beijing to
Sweden. She raves about the low cost of living, the delight of
drinking from the tap, and the relief that her daughter can finally
breathe freely.
(Reporting By Alexandra Harney; Additional reporting by Shanghai
newsroom; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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