Drones are great for showing off a trip - just don't mess about in China

[video_popup width="805" height="454" video_link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8I5Z01OKvw" video_image_link="https://www.tnooz.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/china-drone.jpg"]

Clearly 2014 is the year of the drone. And why shouldn't it be given the uniqueness and general high quality of lots of the content.

Such are the obvious use cases for drone-shot video for the travel industry that many destination marketers and consumers are trying their hand at it.

We have also seen the emergence of travel search sites which collect all the drone clips shot from around the world and EasyJet is using them for remote maintenance of its aircraft.

Still, drones are causing some issues - a tourist crashed one into one of Yellowstone National Park's hot springs earlier this month (despite a ban on the devices by officials) and countless users have fallen foul of air traffic regulations.

Step forward Trey Ratcliff, a high-profile travel photographer and drone user from the US but living in New Zealand, who recently shot an incredible video from the skies above Beijing in China.

The rest you can probably guess.

After flying his quadcopter around various sites for a few days, Ratcliff was detailed by the police. Well, derrr, but the story of what happened next is interesting and an obvious lesson for any other eager drone users.

Here is the clip: