China can still see the sun without the need for a giant television screen. A new report claiming that the Asian nation has started televising the sunrise on LED monitors because of its high smog level is erroneous.

The Daily Mail reported on Friday that Beijing has become so engulfed in smog that its residents have started to flock to huge digital television screens across the city just to see the sun rise.

According to the UK paper, the huge LED screens in the Chinese capital usually advertise tourist destinations. However, with smog hitting dangerous levels recently, the screens are now being used to broadcast the sunrise, which apparently delights the natural light-starved residents, who don air masks and leave their homes just to watch the sun.

The news appeared to be an implausible yet still believable story that other media outlets, such as the Huffington Post, Time, and CBS, all reported it as well.

After all, the air pollution in Beijing has indeed shot up on Thursday as the “city registered readings over 20 times the recommended exposure levels suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO).”

The Beijing Municipal Environment Protection Bureau readings on Thursday were at PM 2.5, which registered over 500 micrograms per cubic feet. Officials already issued a severe air warning, urging residents to wear protective masks when going outdoors.

But TechInAsia.com has rebuffed the trending story, saying that while the air pollution in the city has becoming worse, the residents still don’t need a giant TV screen just to watch the sunrise.

It explained that the sunrise on the television screens around the city was probably on air for less than ten seconds at a time as it was part of a tourism ad for Shandong province.

“The ad plays every day throughout the day all year round no matter how bad the pollution is. The photographer simply snapped the photo at the moment when the sunrise appeared,” the article reads.

“Look closely, and you can even see the Shandong tourism logo in the bottom right corner.”