Beijing's Robot Mall Draws Summer Crowds With Hands-On AI Tours
Beijing's Robot Mall sees a 50% rise in visitors this summer, offering interactive tours of over 100 robots and self-driving tech.
A sprawling showroom dedicated to embodied AI robots has become one of Beijing's most unexpected summer attractions. The Robot Mall, a 4,000-square-meter facility in the city's tech-focused Yizhuang area, is drawing families, international tourists, and student groups eager to see advanced robotics up close.
More than 100 types of robots are on display, with around 20 available for visitors to touch or operate. The interactive format has proven popular. A primary school student on a study tour described the experience as "even better than I imagined," while a German tourist noted how lifelike the machines appear, observing that the robots' facial movements, including lip motions, closely mimic human behavior.
The summer rush is significant. Qi Qi, head of the industrial tourism and sci-tech education project at the Beijing Yizhuang Robotics Technology Industry Development Company, said inquiries, reception sessions, and visitor numbers have all climbed more than 50 percent compared with the previous quarter. On weekends, the mall runs five to six study-tour sessions daily, with monthly visitor volume staying above 8,000.
Beyond the robot displays, autonomous driving educational tours are also a major draw. The mall runs about four such sessions per day, and summer participation for the self-driving experience is up 13 percent year on year. A high school student from Jiangxi Province said the safe ride gave her peace of mind and sparked interest in a future career in artificial intelligence.
The mall operates like a full-service dealership for robots, offering sales, maintenance, spare parts, and technical support. Its popularity has also fueled a wider commercial ecosystem, including a robot-themed restaurant and an interactive market.
Yizhuang, also known as the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, is home to over 300 robotics and smart manufacturing firms and about 20 scientific innovation venues. It has launched six premium industrial tourism routes covering robotics, smart manufacturing, commercial aerospace, and autonomous driving. Li Tiankai, deputy director of the area's publicity and culture department, said the sci-tech tourism cluster brings together travel agencies, hotels, venue operators, and study-tour institutions, providing specialized support for the entire ecosystem.