Editor's note: China is not one innovation story but many – emerging from local areas across the nation. In this series, we bring you those stories as pieces of a larger mosaic that, when put together, reveal the full picture of a country on the move.

When a driverless minibus – nicknamed the "Potato Bus" by Chinese netizens – appears on the streets of Europe, it draws attention for more than just its unusual design.

The vehicle, known as RoboBus, comes from Guiyang, the capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, a mountainous region that has in recent years explored new technology applications. Rather than simply being another autonomous vehicle, it represents an emerging category often described as a "mobile autonomous space." In industry terms, this signals a shift: autonomous driving is moving beyond the question of whether the technology works, toward how it can be integrated into real urban systems.

This transition is already taking shape in Guiyang.

In 2025, RoboBus began operating a driverless shuttle route in Huaxi University Town, connecting campuses with surrounding residential and commercial areas. The service is open to the public and has been running long enough to accumulate real-world operational data.

Building on this foundation, a more extensive route known as the "Wonder Loop" has been introduced in Guiyang's Guanshanhu District. The route links shopping districts, parks and residential communities, expanding the system from a transportation service into a broader urban application that combines mobility with everyday services.

Along this route, RoboBus and related formats operate with flexible functions. Depending on the time of day, vehicles can serve as commuter shuttles, retail units or shared leisure spaces. While the Huaxi route functions primarily as a mobility pilot, the Wonder Loop offers a glimpse of how such systems could operate at a wider urban scale.

At the heart of this approach is a broader view of what transportation could become. Industry observers note that mobility in the future may no longer be limited to moving people from point A to point B, but could evolve toward more integrated service functions. As autonomous driving technology develops, vehicle interiors may be used more flexibly, allowing for multiple roles beyond transport.

Why did this type of exploration emerge in Guizhou?

On the one hand, Guizhou is not a traditional hub for the automotive industry. This allows more room for real-world testing and experimentation. Its moderate urban scale, policy support for emerging technologies, and still-evolving transportation and commercial systems make it easier to explore new models in practice.

On the other hand, local companies have taken part in developing and testing such systems, contributing to a different innovation path – one that focuses on application and integration rather than incremental upgrades in more mature markets.

From Huaxi University Town to the Wonder Loop, these projects suggest that autonomous driving is moving from a usable technology to an operational system embedded in everyday urban life. More broadly, they raise a question that extends beyond one city:

If transportation is no longer just about transport, how might cities themselves be reimagined?

(Tian Yinxing and Mu Yifang contributed to the story.)