French mountain air fetches $860

Auctioned glass jar of clean air from southern France

Beijing artist Liang Kegang says clean air should be available to everyone.

Last month, he put up for auction a glass jar of clean air from southern France, where he had just traveled on a business trip.

In Beijing, a city with choking pollution, the Provence air fetched $860.

Kegang says, "Air should be the most valueless commodity, free to breathe for any vagrant or beggar."