Dramatic TikTok videos have captured the moment Chinese military aircraft roar past hotels at a holiday resort during low-altitude training exercises last week.
Guests and hotel staff in Huidong County, which is in the Guangdong province in southern China, filmed from balconies overlooking Pinghai Bay as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) fighter jets did their flybys last Wednesday and Thursday.
The footage posted to Douyin—the version of TikTok released for the Chinese-speaking market—has been seen over a million times.
One hotel manager doing business in the area also known as "Shuangyuewan" or Twin Moon Bay—about 100 miles northeast of Hong Kong—told Newsweek the PLA Air Force flybys were a regular occurrence.
The tropical climate attracts visitors to the beachfront for the sea and the impromptu "air shows," said the hotel manager, who did not wish to give his name.
In one Douyin video, a twin-engine J-16 strike fighter roars past his building at below eye level, revealing its undercarriage as it flies away and pulls upward.
Tourists staying at the seafront last week also captured a two-seater J-16 performing the same stunt before appearing a second time to fly in the opposite direction.
Douyin clips from the same period showed other PLA aircraft flying across Twin Moon Bay. One video showed a lone J-10 fighter, while a pair of J-10s were seen flying together in another.
A search for related videos from the same area showed similar flybys being recorded almost every month of the year since last June.
The area falls under the PLA's Southern Theater Command, headquartered in Guangzhou and covering Yunnan, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong and Macau as part of its jurisdiction.
Social media users in China have noticed an uptick in military aircraft activity in recent weeks. Some suspect the PLA is training for air shows, which are expected to take place across the country in July as part of the Chinese Communist Party's centennial celebrations.
In the middle of May, residents of Baoding in the Hebei province noticed military helicopters flying in formation to create the number "100"—a sign of ongoing preparations for July.
The centennial is the first major milestone overseen by Chinese President Xi Jinping. He may still be around in 2027 when the PLA marks 100 years since its founding.
The third landmark event is the centennial of the People's Republic of China in 2049, which analysts have also suggested is Beijing's deadline for "unifying" democratically ruled Taiwan.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
John Feng is Newsweek's contributing editor for Asia based in Taichung, Taiwan. His focus is on East Asian politics. He ... Read more
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