Droner - Nyttårshilsen fra Shanghai - AS Vision video

2,000 Drones Light Up Night Sky in Shanghai for New Year

Shanghai rejected traditional fireworks displays to celebrate the New Year, filling the skies with thousands of synchronised drones. Nearly 2,000 drones took to the night sky and illuminated the Huangpu River in Shanghai to welcome in the new year.

They formed various patterns ranging from the Earth to a dragon. At around midnight, the drones gathered to form a running man. It moved forward, showing the changes and achievements Shanghai has made in the past 40 years. The show ended with drones forming the Chinese characters of “Zhui Meng” (Dream pursuit).

The state media channel CCTV said the corridor configuration illustrated “the great changes and glorious achievements that Shanghai has achieved in the last 40 years of reform and openness.”

It was achieved through vast programming efforts to coordinate the drones, rather than individual drone pilots.