#HTE

A GIF of Chinese Soldiers Assembling a Massive Pontoon Bridge in Less Than 30 Minutes

Are GIFs a good way to spread propaganda? Perhaps. For instance, if you worked for the Chinese government and wanted the world to recognize the industrial/military might of the People’s Liberation Army, you’d certainly release this GIF into the wild:

That’s footage of PLA soldiers erecting a pontoon bridge, an exercise they’ve been conducting since at least 2013, and for which their length-and-time record was a 1.15-kilometer bridge assembled into 26 minutes as of 2016, at least according to the China Daily. Here’s video of the latter feat in action, where you can see a bit more detail on how everything comes together. You’ll also notice the final act, which is to visibly obscure the entire bridge in what must be a choking cloud of smoke: