A very close call! Almost arrested! (Patreon)
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Taking drone footage in China is sort of in a grey area, it's legal and also not legal and the laws are very confusing, all I know is that if I'm going to take footage I should pilot out of sight of crowds and onlookers as there will always be a mini circus around me of curious onlookers and pissed off security guards. I usually find rooftops to fly from... but here I had no option, I walked out into the middle of the people's square, sort of hid out of view of the security guards behind the big flag pole and setup the drone. I managed to get it in the air and got my shot (although I would have liked to take another few sweeps), but was interrupted by some very angry soldiers who demanded I identify myself and bring the drone down immediately. Due to the recent goings on in the South China sea, there's understandably a lot of tension and they thought I was some sort of spy gathering intelligence... (although what intelligence there is to be gained of a public building I don't know) I explained to them that it was just a toy and I was flying it here because it's a big open space, I also pointed out that there were two Chinese guys flying a toy drone on the other side of the square (a real small toy one), they said "Chinese people can fly them here, but not foreigners" I told them I understand and when it landed I picked it up and showed it to them before saying, thanks for clearing that up and making a hasty exit as some tourists asked one of them where a bathroom was (one of the soldiers was on his radio asking what to do about me), so I smiled, gave a thumbs up and walked off.... that was to say at least a hairy situation... I think I'll stick to rooftops in the future when I get a drone of my own!
Stay Awesome guys, and thank you once again for your support!
- SerpentZA