From Iceland to Maldives, Chinese seek 'lung cleansing' trips

Beijing

TOXIC haze that settled over much of China during the last three weeks has triggered a flight reflex among residents, leading to the rising popularity of smog avoidance travel packages to far-flung locations such as Iceland and Antarctica.

Traveler's online keyword searches for terms such as "smog escape," "lung cleansing" and "forests" had tripled amid the air pollution, according to a report titled "Smog Escape Travel Ranking" from Ctrip.com International last month.