Drones put on spectacular light show in southern China

Almost 1,200 drones have performed a spectacular light show in Guangzhou in southern China.

The event was staged on Thursday as part of the Fortune global economic forum event.

The 1,180 illuminated flying machines, manufactured by technology company Ehang, formed the shape of the Chinese characters for “fortune”, “open” and “innovation”, Nanfang Daily reported.

The devices also lit up in the shape of a ship and the southern city’s official flower from the kapok tree during the nine-minute show near Guangzhou Tower, the report said.

Li Zhiyuan, the Ehang executive in charge of the event, said the drones involved each cost more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,500) to make.

The devices can be flown to an accuracy of 2cm horizontally and 1cm vertically, Li was quoted as saying.

More than 50 software engineers, lighting designers and other technicians took part in the show.

Li said drone light displays were safer and more environmentally friendly than fireworks and could give a greater variety of performances.

“Drones can produce very impressive artistic effects,” he said. “We hope that drone performances can one day replace fireworks in the business of night sky illumination.”