China News Service, Hangzhou, October 5 (Lin Bo) When walking into the Hangzhou Embodied Intelligence Exhibition and Application Promotion Center in Binjiang, Hangzhou, the person who greets visitors is not a barista in an apron, but a robot that is skillfully operating a coffee machine: adding beans, pressing powder, and extracting in one go. Incidentally, he can say: "You have good taste, and you have chosen a star product!"
A tourist from Tangshan, Hebei Province took the coffee and exclaimed: "It's so amazing, I feel like I've arrived in the future world."
This is one of the “Twenty New Scenes of Science and Technology Tourism” launched by the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism. It is also a microcosm of Zhejiang’s AI cultural tourism consumption during this year’s National Day holiday.
In July this year, Hangzhou released the "Twenty New Scenes of Hangzhou Science and Technology Tourism", including Hangzhou Embodied Intelligence Exhibition and Application Promotion Center, Liangzhu VR Large Space, Zhejiang University High-end Equipment Research Institute, etc., covering fields such as embodied intelligence, low-altitude economy, AIGC film and television production, smart agriculture, aerospace, meteorological technology, etc.
The 20 scenic spots are connected together to form a global science and technology tourism map, allowing five thousand years of civilization and the latest technology to collide in Hangzhou, which has also become a highlight of the cultural tourism market during the National Day holiday.
On October 1, the "First National Human-Computer Interactive Games" was held in Wensan Digital Life Street, Hangzhou. Photo by Wu Junyi
In Hangzhou's Wensan Digital Lifestyle District, which features technology displays, during the National Day holiday, the "Wensan Forward" human-computer interactive sports will bring robot football, brain-controlled racing, robot dog shooting, digital surfing, stampede racing and other projects to the streets.
Citizen tourists are no longer bystanders. They put on EEG devices to control racing cars, team up with robot dogs to shoot, and experience their "technology addiction" in immersive interactions.
From "watching the scenery" to "playing with technology", digital cultural tourism is reshaping the holiday consumption scene. In the "Wensan Technology New Specialties" store, popular technology products such as smart glasses and companion robots were unveiled, becoming new consumption choices for tourists.
Data shows that from October 1 to October 4, Hangzhou Wensan Digital Life Street received nearly 30,000 tourists, and the total business volume of the street exceeded 1 million yuan.
From "watching the scenery" to "playing with technology", digital cultural tourism is reshaping the holiday consumption scene. In the "Wensan Technology New Specialties" store, popular technology products such as smart glasses and companion robots were unveiled, becoming new consumption choices for tourists.
When "new technological specialties" become travel souvenirs, the underlying logic of cultural tourism consumption in Zhejiang is being rewritten - what tourists take away is no longer just ticket stubs and scenic photos, but technological products that can be experienced, purchased and shared.
On October 4, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, humanoid robots performed the opera "Farewell My Concubine". Photo by Wang Gang
AI has also opened up new scenarios for cultural tourism consumption.
At a robot operation center in Hangzhou, the robot's "National Day Wonderful Night" performance attracted many tourists. A large number of humanoid robots perform opera, martial arts, dance, etc., presenting traditional culture with modern technology, and technological exhibits transform into "income-generating employees" in the theater.
"The humanoid robot can also perform the opera "Farewell My Concubine", which is a visual impact." Wang Xingchen, a college student in Hangzhou, said that through the performance, he noticed that the humanoid robot can perform complex actions on the stage. "It is conceivable that in the near future, AI will always be with us."
Chi Changniu, the person in charge of the operation center, said that the biggest change in this event is that the robot is no longer regarded as a simple display product, but is truly operated as an actor. "From programming, movement training, stage positioning, lighting and music coordination, to on-site operations and ticket sales, we all run it according to a real commercial performance."
He said that judging from the situation in the past few days, the overall level of attention is high, especially parents and children, families and children are very interested in robots appearing on the theater stage. "We are beginning to see a very clear market signal that consumers are willing to pay for the content and experience brought by robots."
On October 4, tourists took photos with humanoid robots in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Photo by Wang Gang
This trend of paying for “content and experience” is extending to more cultural and travel scenes.
In Lishui Yunhe Terraces, the country's first scenic spot AI short drama customization experience center has officially opened. Visitors only need to provide portrait photos and personal voices, and within 30 minutes to an hour they can receive an exclusive AI short drama with themselves as the protagonists, based on the real scenes of the terraced fields in four seasons.
From "watching other people's stories" to "acting in your own skits," AI makes the cultural and tourism experience more personalized and creates new payment points.
AI's changes in cultural tourism consumption also extend to the entire chain of "food, accommodation, travel, shopping and entertainment". Hangzhou has integrated cutting-edge technologies such as AI smart catering, future hotel 30-second speed check-in, unmanned minibus smart connections, and drone low-altitude takeout delivery into holiday services. Tourists can order a cup of robot coffee in a scenic spot, interact with a robot dog in the neighborhood, check in instantly by swiping their face in a hotel, and experience the convenience of "technology + culture and tourism" in low-altitude delivery.
During the National Day holiday, Zhejiang is showing a clear path: when AI is deeply integrated with cultural tourism, consumption no longer stops at "visiting here", but turns to participation, interaction, creation and sharing.
As more cutting-edge technologies are implemented, the imagination space of Zhejiang cultural tourism will continue to open up. (over)
