Chinese boy goes viral after he storms out of planetarium documentary over Long March rockets factual errors
- A boy, aged 8, enraged by factual errors in an educational video about China’s space programme filmed storming out of the screening in disgust
- Yan is a space enthusiast who makes cardboard rocket models and even teaches classes online for other devotees, says his father
Eight-year-old Yan Hongsen went to a planetarium with his father on July 16 in Lhasa, Tibet, an autonomous region of China. During the visit, the boy noticed that a science education film played for visitors contained numerous inaccuracies, such as confusing the Long March 3 rocket with the number 5 rocket.
“What are they showing here!,” the boy can be heard angrily asking in the video. “How can they caption this as Long March 5? This is Long March 3!”
“The planetarium was using those videos to fool adults, and they didn’t expect children to come,” one person joked.
After the video went viral the planetarium responded by stating that they had received feedback about the video and would correct the errors as soon as possible. They added that they were grateful for the boy’s corrections.
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Yan has been a space science enthusiast since he was just four years old and makes cardboard rocket models and teaches online classes for other enthusiasts, his father said.
“Like many other parents, we were eager to learn about his interests,” the father said. “So we began to try various things, like digging up rocks for him and taking him to see trains, until one day he saw the launch of the Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite-2 at the Jiuquan satellite launch centre.”
“He became interested in space science as a result of the rocket launch. And because of space science, he fell in love with astronomy and military affairs.”
Yan has also gradually developed an interest in physics, chemistry, and computer programming.
“It’s a strength of his that he can study in his spare time, even while eating, going to the bathroom, in the car or on the bus,” the father explained.
Many people who saw the video were astounded by the boy’s display of self-control and learning at such a young age.
“I am deeply impressed by his talents!” said one person. “This is a God-sent star to help China’s space industry.”
Another wrote: “Children’s excellence is closely related to parental guidance; if it were not for the parents’ many attempts, the child’s talents might not have been discovered.”
