A Chinese video of a 'bend bridge' has been falsely shared as a new tourist attraction in Indonesia
After a unique glass tourist bridge with limited access opened in Indonesia, a video went viral online with the false claim that it showed the new attraction. However, the clip shows China's “bend bridge” that opened in September 2020, which has a different design to the bridge in Indonesia.
“Bromo's glass bridge,” reads a Facebook post shared on November 6, 2024, with aerial video of people walking on the curved bridge surrounded by mountains.
Bromo is a tourist destination in East Java on the main island of Indonesia, known for its active volcano. The county opened a new glass bridge in August but with limited access (archived link).
Screenshot of the fake post, taken on November 21, 2024
The video has garnered more than 300,000 views on similar posts on Facebook, Instagram and X, which claim to show the new bridge in Bromo.
However, the video actually shows a pedestrian bridge in eastern China's Zhejiang province.
'The Bending Bridge'
A reverse Google image search found a similar video shared on November 3 by an Instagram account writing about tourism in China (archived link).
According to the Instagram post, the bridge is located in the scenic area of Shenxianju in Taizhou, China's Zhejiang province.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the video seen on the fake post (left) and Instagram (right):
Screenshot comparison between the video seen on the fake post (left) and the Instagram account (right)
The Ruyi Bridge — made up of three bridges with partial glass floors — opened in September 2020, according to an article from the state-run China Daily newspaper published on the provincial government's website (link saved).
The eye-catching structure spans 100 meters (328 feet) across the Shenxianju Valley and sits at a height of 140 meters (460 feet).
A photo by Chinese photo agency Imaginechina, available in the AFP archives, shows the bridge with a caption saying it was taken in Zhejiang (archived link).
Meanwhile, the new bridge in Indonesia, Seruni Point Bridge, is also in a scenic spot when looking at Mount Bromo, but it has a specific design, according to Radar Bromo TV (link saved).
Below is a screenshot comparison between the fake video (left) and the Bromo bridge on Radar Bromo TV (right):
Screenshot comparison between fake video (left) and real photo of Bromo glass bridge (right)
