China had many cool New Year celebrations, but this dragon drone show in Shanghai was not 1 of them

You may have seen the video by now; over the Shanghai waterfront area known as The Bund, with the famous Oriental Pearl Tower in the background, an immense and spectacular fireworks and drone show combo is taking place.

Above it all is a magnificent golden halo made by drones hovering in place.

Below it a vast Chinese dragon, writhing its way through the air, with supernatural grace and speed.

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A post shared by StreetArtGlobe ™ 😱 (@streetartglobe)

Topping it all off was a shower of pyrotechnics falling through the halo onto the drone swarm dragon.

It is a spectacular example of the capabilities of drone swarms, seeing as it’s still rare to see such combinations move so quickly in unison.

And if you thought that it was unnatural or almost unbelievable, you’re right.

Another reality

A tweet sharing the video of the “show” captioned it “another reality”, which is literally true, because the video was faked, although some billionaires may have taken the footage at face value.

As the dragon snakes its way through the air, the video scene of the Bund shakes, as any handheld video might.

But the drone displays remain solidly centred in the frame, while the city moves around behind it.

Some on social media also noted that neither the drones nor the fireworks seemed to be reflected in the water below.

A drone swarm display professional refuted the video, saying that there were no drone shows in Shanghai for the New Years celebration.

Social media footage from the Bund purporting to be taken on New Year’s Eve complained about the lack of celebration.

@alecsandrealden we came all the way to shanghai just to see this 🙄#newyear #newyears #china #中国 #studyinchina #fyp #shanghai #上海 #CapCut ♬ september on crack ft. a recorder (Earth, Wind & Fire - September) - frickin weeb

While China has hosted impressive drone and firework shows in the past, the widely shared fake video of Shanghai’s NYE 2025 celebration is being circulated by large accounts like:@stillgray @visegrad24 @OliLondonTV @BRICSinfo @iamBrianBJ @InternetH0F @APompliano @RadarHits… pic.twitter.com/uk6jU1eJ7U

— Solzzzzzzzzzzzz (@solysolz) January 1, 2025

Some have speculated that the video was generated by artificial intelligence, and the professional suggested that it was two sets of footage of different drone shows that had been overlaid on a video of the Bund.

Balloons!

This is not to say that China didn’t have impressive New Year’s celebrations.

@peoplesdaily_renminribao #NewYear countdown celebrations were held across #China ♬ 原聲 - People's Daily 人民日报

Footage shared by Sinologist Manya Koetse showed tens of thousands of people packing the streets in Nanchang.

Incredible crowds in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi, during the New Year countdown. pic.twitter.com/vGDnOKYORq

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 1, 2025

While the crowd was impressive enough, so was the display of thousands of heart shaped balloons being released into the air at the stroke of midnight, a display that was replicated in several Chinese cities, such as in Hangzhou.

Happy new year in Hangzhou. Especially for the balloon sellers on the streets who sold 20,000 balloons in one night 💸 pic.twitter.com/jLksj6019R

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 1, 2025

However, like all good celebrations, the day after the night before comes with repercussions.

People in the surrounding area woke up to trees filled with balloons, and an estimated six tons of rubbish was left, meaning a big New Year headache for someone.

Top image via @manyapan/X, @OliLondonTV/X, &@AlienDrones/X