Video of Golden Dragon Boat In China Peddled As Diwali Celebration in Kerala

A video from China showing numerous bamboo rafts strategically placed to create the illusion of giant dragon in the river at night, is being shared in India with a false claim that it shows Diwali celebrations in Kerala.

BOOM found that the video shows the spectacle of the Golden Dragon Boat in China's Yulong river in Yangshuo county on the occasion of the 12th China Tourism Day .

The 20-second video shows a series of rafts fitted with an illuminated umbrella or canape, forming a curved shape on the river.

Several Indian netizens have shared the video falsely claiming it shows celebrations in Kerala. The clip has text added to it which claims it shows celebrations at the Sri Mahankaleshwara Temple - Miralam Mandi in Hyderabad.

Author and columnist Bhawana Somaaya tweeted the video with the caption, "#Deepotsavam in Kerala. 240 boats sailing in the river with lamps. #Diwali celebrations continue…"

Click here to view the tweet and here for the archive.

Other users have also shared the video on Twitter.

Click here to view the tweet and here for the archive.

Click here to view the tweet and here for the archive.

The video was also shared on YouTube with a similar claim.

FACT-CHECK

BOOM found that the viral video is from is from China's Yulong River, located in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and not a video of Diwali celebrations in Kerala. The actual video shows the presentation of the "golden dragon boat" also known as the "dragon boat" in China, which is a 70-meter long formation of 80 rafts decorated with lamps.

We performed a reverse image search on Google of the viral video from Twitter and found posts from CGTN America and Xi's Moments that spoke about how the boat cruised on Yulong river on 19 May, 2022.

Taking a cue from this, we performed a keyword search with the words "dragon boat", "Yulong river" and the name of the province. By doing this, we found the official website of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region's official website, which gave additional information about the dragon boat.

Click here to view the website.

It can be seen that the visuals on the website match the viral video on Twitter.

According to the official website, the dragon boat is was presented in the Yulong River to promote tourism in the region. "The activity was held as a celebration of the 12th China Tourism Day," the website further informed.

While CGTN America and Xi's Moments reported that the length of the dragon boat was 700 meters, the official website of the province claims that the boat was 70 meters long.

BOOM could not independently verify the length of the dragon boat.