(Newser) – Beijing artist Liang Kegang returned from a business trip in southern France with well-rested lungs and a small item of protest against his home city's choking pollution: a glass jar of clean, Provence air. He put it up for auction before a group of about 100 Chinese artists and collectors late last month, and it fetched $860. The short, ordinary glass preserves jar has a rubber seal, a flip-top, and three small, handwritten paper labels: one with the name and coordinates of the French village, Forcalquier, where Liang closed the jar; one saying "Air in Provence, France" in French; and one with his signature in Chinese and the date—March 29.