Travel agents see clear opportunity in hazy cities

It is a family tradition for 50-year-old Beijing resident Wang Jianying and her family to travel to Sanya in southern China's Hainan province every Spring Festival for the warm and pleasant weather, but this year there is a new factor: heavy smog in the north.

A similar escape is not unique among northern China's residents suffering from the continuous bad air. Trips to places where the air is clean are becoming popular.

Since October, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and neighboring regions have witnessed six major rounds of smog, with the Air Quality Index often surpassing 300, at times 500, to reach the "hazardous" level. This has led to many northern residents taking short-term trips away from home.