Some 70 percent of respondents in China said that smog makes them unhappy, while the same number said they wear masks if they have to go out on smoggy days, said a survey.
"I feel extremely terrible when the smog comes, and I get a rash on my face because of the smog, which makes me itchy," respondent Li Jiaqi said in a survey conducted by China Youth Daily recently. The survey did not provide a detailed breakdown of respondents.
Li added that she is doing research about what kind of food would be good for the respiratory tract, and she buys face masks regularly for her parents, the report said.
The survey also found that during smoggy days, 71 percent of respondents wear masks, while more than 50 percent choose to stay at home.
The ones who stay home also take measures to improve indoor air quality. Some 40 percent of those surveyed said they have air purifiers at home, and nearly 40 percent said they are planning to buy one.
Fang Li, head of Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, said that there were 39 days with heavy air pollution in 2016, seven fewer than in 2015, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The average density of PM2.5 in the Chinese capital was 73 micrograms per cubic meter in 2016, down 9.9 percent from the previous year, according to Lu Yan, head of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.
Beijing mayor Cai Qi said in early February that the municipal government will continue to decrease coal use by helping residents in 700 villages use clean energy.
"We will try to basically realize zero coal use in six major districts and in Beijing's southern plain areas this year," Cai said, adding that the city will eliminate coal-fired boilers that each produce no more than 10 tons of steam per hour.
