AI services and flower products promote local tourism in Beijing

The ongoing International Symposium on Rose Research and Cultivation in Beijing's Mentougou District is highlighting AI services and flower products.

The digital rose-girl character Xiaomiaoyue debuted at the rose exhibition area on the sidelines of the symposium, offering multilingual services to help visitors identify a wide variety of rose species and expand their knowledge. Instead of human staff, robots prepared lattes and ice cream featuring rose motifs. Visitors wearing VR glasses could watch the entire process of roses unfurling their petals.

During the six-day festival in rural Beijing, visitors are able to immerse themselves in a sea of flora created by thousands of species of roses from around the world. They can also buy rose-themed merchandise, interact with animals, and watch folk performances.

This is the first time the International Symposium on Rose Research and Cultivation has been hosted in China. According to Sun Qixin, president of China Agricultural University, China now supplies 37 percent of the cut roses on the global market, and the value of its output has surpassed 300 billion yuan ($41.7 billion).