Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
A video showing a beautifully lit fleet of boats slithering across a river is doing the rounds of social media, with several users, including verified Twitter handles, claiming it to be Deepotsavam celebrations in Kerala.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Fact
A reverse image search of keyframes of the video led us to multiple reports and tweets referring to the spectacle as the “Golden Dragon” in China, which consists of 88 glowing bamboo rafts cruising on the Yulong River.
A keyword search using the terms “Golden Dragon Yulong River” led us to this news report from CGTN, a state-run English-language news channel based in Beijing, China, dated May 31, 2022. The report, headlined “Check out the 700-meter-long (.4 mile) dragon boat”, stated, “A lengthy dragon boat made its debut last week, winding its way down the Yulong River in southern China. At 700-m long and made up of 80 bamboo rafts, the boat is being used to bring interest and more tourism to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.”
We also came across this news report from Guangxi China, dated May 20, 2022, and headlined “Encounter golden ‘dragon’ on dazzling Yulong River”. This article stated, “On May 19, 80 bamboo rafts with golden lights formed a 70-meter “dragon” wandering along the Yulong River in Baisha town’s Yulong village in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, presenting a powerful night vision to visitors,” adding that the activity was held as a celebration of the 12th China Tourism Day, and to increase Yulong River’s reputation, while creating new night tourism models.
Result: False
Sources
Image analysis
CGTN report, May 31, 2022
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
