Do all the collapsed bridge photos on social media really show the Nov. 11, 2025 collapse of the Hongqi bridge in southwest China? No, that's not true: The new Hongqi bridge did collapse, one day after it was closed to traffic due to the appearance of cracks. But many photos circulating on social media have been miscaptioned -- they show other bridges but not the Hongqi bridge.
An example of one such misleading caption appears in a post (archived here) published on X by @dizneyx on Nov. 11, 2025. It was captioned:
A newly built Hongqi Bridge in southwest China has collapsed just a few months after it opened. Local officials had already noticed cracks and ground movement around the bridge, so they closed it to traffic shortly before it gave way. Thankfully, no casualties have been reported so far. The incident has raised serious questions about the construction quality and safety checks, especially since the bridge was part of an important highway route.
The post includes two photos (pictured below):
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot from x.com/dizneyx/status/1988271467700592995.)
The photo (pictured above) does not show the Nov. 11, 2025 collapse of the Hongqi bridge. The red semi truck cab is dangling precariously over the edge of the Houzihe Grand Bridge. An article published by globaltimes.cn (archived here) on June 24, 2025 contains a photo showing a different angle of this same scene with the red truck. The photo in the @dizneyx X post still has the original text caption in the upper right corner correctly identifying the date and location. It reads:
Sandu County, Guizhou Province, China
June 24, 2025
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot from x.com/dizneyx/status/1988271467700592995.)
The second photo in the @dizneyx post (seen above) shows emergency workers in yellow vests standing at the mouth of what remains of a tunnel after it was washed away by a landslide. Another photo of this scene appears in an Aug. 3, 2024 article (archived here) from dw.com titled, "China hit by second bridge collapse in a month". The landslide happened in the southwestern province of Sichuan and impacted a tunnel on the expressway between Kangding and Ya'an.
There is more than one Hongqi bridge in China. One Hongqi bridge (photos here) spans the Songhua river in Jilin City in the Jilin province in northeast China. A photo of the Jilin Hongqi bridge under construction errantly appeared in a Unilad article (archived here) about the collapse of the other Hongqi bridge. The bridge which suffered a partial collapse on Nov. 11, 2025, as reported (archived here) by Reuters, is in the southwestern province of Sichuan, near the town Baiwanxiang, a few hundred miles from the border of Tibet.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot from highestbridges.com/wiki/index.php?title=Hongqi_Bridge.)
The Hongqi bridge is a girder bridge, where the bridge deck is supported by horizontal beams which are supported by vertical piers. Photos of the Hongqi bridge under construction (pictured above) and a schematic diagram of the bridge can be found on highestbridges.com (archived here).
Many of the misleading posts on social media show a suspension bridge that is painted a bright blue-green color. This is not the Hongqi bridge. The blue suspension bridge is the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge, in Guizhou province, China. It is the world's highest bridge, crossing a canyon 625 meters above the Beipan River. The opening of the bridge to traffic was reported (archived here) on Sept. 29, 2025 by nbcnews.com.
A miscaptioned Nov. 11, 2025 post on X (archived here) by @amuse featured a photo of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge (pictured below) with the caption:
CHINA: It was an amazing bridge for the three or four months it was open. The 2,500 foot Hongqi bridge is no more...
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from x.com/amuse/status/1988420559466885611/photo/1.)
A Nov. 11, 2025 post (archived here) by @bruce_barrett on X shows aerial views (screenshot below) of the suspension bridge while it was under construction. The misleading caption reads:
Holy smokes.
The Hongqi bridge just collapsed in China👀
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from x.com/bruce_barrett/status/1988359929690767685.)
A Nov. 11, 2025 post (archived here) on X by @aares0205 contains a still photo of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge (pictured below) as well as video footage of the Hongqi bridge collapse. The false caption reads:
🇨🇳WATCH:
The Hongqi Bridge once celebrated as the world's highest suspension bridge has partially collapsed, just months after its grand opening.
Early reports suggest sections of the structure gave way unexpectedly, with rescue operations currently underway.
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from x.com/aares0205/status/1988343871957594564.)
