Hangzhou Robotic Educational Tour

After arriving in Hangzhou, check into the hotel and rest.

Morning, go to visit the West Lake . West Lake is a UNESCO World Heritage site. West Lake is in the heart of Hangzhou and gives the city its picturesque and romantic feeling. You will board a big Picture Boat to cruise on the lake with a stop to visit the Island - Three Pools Mirroring the Moon . After that, visit the Qinghefang Ancient Street . Qinghefang Ancient Street, also named Hefang Street, is a well-preserved ancient street in Hangzhou. It's the heart of the country in the Song Dynasty, about 700 years ago. You have a chance to visit the Huqingyu Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum . It's a large rambling home office with a herbal pharmacy below. It's the most famous herbal pharmacy shop in the Qing Dynasty, about 140 years ago.

West Lake boat ride

Qinghefang Ancient Street

Huqingyu Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum

Join "Meet the Six Little Dragons" to step into the world of innovation. It's a lively half-day program—students visit Hangzhou's top tech firms here and use advanced robotics and AI. This hands-on journey mixes history, technology and interactive learning. It's made to get students curious.

Hangzhou Six Little Dragons technology exhibition hall

Your Journey's Rewards:

See real UNESCO World Heritage sites. Learn about Hangzhou's old history from ancient streets and old pharmacies. Get to know how tech firms work today. Try using advanced robotics and AI. Mix learning about culture, history and technology in one trip.

Educational Focus:

How does mixing Hangzhou's historical heritage—such as West Lake, Qinghefang Street and Huqingyu Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum—and modern tech innovation (from the "Meet the Six Little Dragons" program) change how we understand cultural inheritance and tech development?

Takeaway:

Historical heritage and modern technology are integrated in Hangzhou. It turns cultural preservation and technological advancement from separate paths into forces that support each other. This teamwork changes what cultural inheritance is—it becomes "living heritage." Here, technology lets people get to heritage easily, makes it fun, and connects it to life today. At the same time, technology gets a clear goal: innovation becomes a tool to respect, bring back, and pass on culture. Basically, Hangzhou's model shows that cultural heritage guides tech progress. And tech gives new life to cultural assets, creating a sustainable good cycle.

Thought Challenge:

We can see Qing Dynasty traditional Chinese medicine culture and advanced AI technology existing together in Hangzhou. How can we make sure rapid tech development doesn't make historical culture inheritance stiff? How can we stop tech innovation from moving away from cultural heritage roots?

First, go to Lingyin Temple and Flying Peak . This temple has lots of pagodas and Buddhist grottoes. Spending a day here is peaceful—you can visit the temple and admire the old religious buildings and their architecture. Then visit Xiaoshan Robot Town . It focuses on developing industrial robots, service robots, and key parts. In this town, you can try dancing, painting or playing chess with the many robots on show. You can also find robot assistants to do physical tests and talk with doctors in real time.

The Buddha statues on Flying Peak

Xiaoshan's robot

Head to the tea village—you can have a quiet, fresh morning there, far from the busy city. Longjing (dragon well) tea is one of China's top green teas. In a local tea farmer's house, professionals teach you to pick, roast and make tea.

Go to Chenghuang Pavilion for a bird's-eye view of West Lake. Then you'll enjoy a Southern Song Dynasty snack banquet with a traditional Chinese tea ceremony.

Plucking tea leaves

Listening to the tea master explain the etiquette of tea art

Your Journey's Rewards:

Go to Lingyin Temple and Flying Peak—see pagodas, grottoes and old religious buildings there. Check out Xiaoshan Robot Town: interact with robots and use their health services. In the tea village, learn how to make Longjing tea. At Chenghuang Pavilion, enjoy West Lake views, a Southern Song snack banquet and a tea ceremony.

Educational Focus:

In Xiaoshan Robot Town, robots can now help with health checks and take part in cultural activities. How do we keep the ease tech brings in balance with the warmth of human interaction in daily life and cultural experiences?

Takeaway:

To balance the ease tech brings and the warmth of human interaction, we first need to use technology as a helper, not a replacement. Take health checks: robots can collect basic data, but doctors still need to explain results and talk to patients, giving advice that fits each person. In cultural activities, robots can tell people about cultural knowledge. But workshops or shows led by humans can give deeper emotional and cultural experiences. We should also design robots to get people talking to each other, not keep them apart. For example, make group cultural games with robots—these games can bring people together. This way, tech makes human contact warmer in daily life and cultural experiences, instead of making it less warm.

Thought Challenge:

How can experiencing ancient temples and tea ceremonies alongside vibrant robots help tradition and technology nourish each other help tradition and technology nourish each other instead of growing apart?

Kick off your Wuzhen Water Town morning with a 20-minute boat ride—it's the calmest way to see this old water town. The boat glides slowly along crisscross waterways. Clear water there reflects gray-tiled roofs and wooden balconies of nearby old houses. Hear water lap gently against the boat and oars creak softly as the boatman leads you. Along the way, see locals hang laundry by the water or chat on small bridges. This lets you really feel the quiet, long-lasting life here that's gone on for hundreds of years. This short ride helps you enjoy Wuzhen's special charm more than walking does.

Wuzhen Water Town boat ride

Explore Wuzhen Water Town's two areas in the afternoon. The compact East Area is much smaller than the larger West Area. You'll find well-organized scenic spots and resort hotels in the more developed West section. But the East Area shows local life: residents hang laundry by the water and chat on doorsteps. This contrast reveals both Wuzhen's tourist appeal and its authentic daily routines.

Wuzhen Water Town

Your Journey's Rewards:

Take a 20-minute morning boat ride to see Wuzhen's waterways and old houses. Hear water and oar sounds. See locals' daily life. Explore East and West Areas to know their different features.

Educational Focus:

How can Wuzhen use technology for tourism while protecting its old-town look and real local life, avoiding losing cultural charm to too much business?

Takeaway:

Technology helps Wuzhen protect itself and grow tourism. It checks how ancient buildings stand and monitors water quality to keep the old-town look. Smart systems limit tourist numbers, preventing crowds and too much business. Digital tools record locals' daily life—keeping traditions real. Using tech right keeps the town's charm while balancing protection and tourism needs. This ensures Wuzhen saves its culture and lets heritage and tourism grow sustainably.

Thought Challenge:

When technology is used to manage Wuzhen's tourism and protect its ancient style, how to avoid tech making local residents' real daily life become a "show" for tourists, and keep the natural and true state of local life?

Visit Hangzhou City Brain Co., Ltd and Shenhao Technology. The Hangzhou City Brain Co., Ltd, launched its City Brain system in April 2016. At first, it used digital tech to make Hangzhou's traffic jams better, so road travel got smoother. Now it does more: it helps run the city, especially when dealing with the novel coronavirus threat. Shenhao Technology is a top innovator in industrial safety and intelligent systems. Shenhao's main skills cover three key areas: intelligent power operation and maintenance, rail transit inspection, and new energy equipment monitoring. Its Industrial AI diagnostic system finds millimeter-level defects. Multimodal sensing robots make operations in high-risk environments better. Shenhao has over 40 national patents and an 80% market share in ultra-high voltage, so people call it a "hidden champion" in industrial safety. You'll meet R&D team members in person, explore humanoid robots' future, and learn about advanced tech innovation. This innovation widens their industry vision.

Machinery automation exhibition

Visit the Hangzhou Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion, a 3,000-square-meter space built on a historic cotton mill site and open since 2011. Watch artisans demonstrate national heritage crafts like silk weaving, Fuyang bamboo paper, Zhang Xiaoquan scissors forging, and West Lake silk umbrellas. You can paint your own umbrella to take home as a keepsake.

The artisan is applying oiled paper to the umbrella ribs

The beautiful painting on the umbrella

Your Journey's Rewards:

Discover Shenhao Technology's smart traffic system, launched in 2016. Learn about its three core technologies using AI and robots, plus its patents, market dominance, and industry leadership. Meet engineers developing humanoid robots. Then visit Hangzhou's Workmanship Pavilion to see traditional crafts and paint souvenir silk umbrellas.

Educational Focus:

How do Hangzhou's City Brain and Shenhao Technology demonstrate tech's real-world value in city management and industrial safety? What lessons do they offer about solving practical problems with technology?

Takeaway:

Hangzhou's City Brain system started in 2016. It uses digital tech to make traffic better and help run the city. People have used it in 11 fields. Shenhao Technology has over 40 patents and an 80% market share in ultra-high voltage. It uses AI and robots to make industrial safety better. These two cases prove tech has practical value. Tech solves urban traffic problems and industrial defect problems. They also show that tech development should focus on real needs. It should mix innovation and practical use to push urban governance and industrial sectors forward.

Thought Challenge:

Seeing City Brain's urban solutions and Shenhao's safety tech, how could this help us apply tech innovations to other real-world problems?

On the last day of your journey, pack up your luggage and head home with a full mind of knowledge!