This video shows a floating restaurant being moved by tugboats in southwest China
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 10, 2020 at 06:57
- 3 min read
- By AFP Hong Kong
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The 11-second video was published on Facebook here on July 18, 2020. It has since been viewed over 14,000 times.
The post’s traditional Chinese caption translates to English as: “China's moving mansion~~~ So advanced, it can move on water~ First in the world”.
The video was also published alongside similar claims on Facebook here and here.
The claim, however, is false.
A keyword search found that the same video was published here on November 11, 2018 by Jiangjin Radio and Television of Chongqing, a local media outlet in the southwest Chinese city.
The footage in the misleading posts can be seen in the video embedded in the report from its three-second mark.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the misleading Facebook video (L) and the footage published by Jiangjin Radio and Television of Chongqing (R):
The article’s simplified Chinese headline reads: “This five-storage building in Jiangjin ‘floats on water’? Maritime department: Restaurant ship moving”.
The report adds: “Our reporter was told by officials from the Maritime Department of Jiangjin district that the ‘building’ is a restaurant ship named ‘Impression Jiangjin’, and it was moved under the escort of two barges on November 10.”
The article also includes a photo of the restaurant before it was transported.
Citing environmental concerns, Jiangjin district’s government ordered the floating restaurant to be closed and relocated in mid-2018. The decision was published here on the authority’s official WeChat account on June 5, 2018.
The Chongqing Evening News, another local media outlet, also reported on the relocation of the floating restaurant here on December 29, 2018.
“After the maritime department’s safety assessment on dragging, it was relocated. Under the escort of maritime departments along the line, Impression Jiangjin was transferred to Fuling district for temporary parking,” part of the report reads.
Below are two more photos from the Chongqing Evening News article showing the ship parked in Fuling:
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
