Holiday experiences highlight the practical power of China's AI innovation

Editor's note: Qian Haoqi, a special commentator for CGTN, is an associate professor and an associate dean at the Institute for Global Public Policy, and an assistant director at the MOE Laboratory for National Development and Intelligent Governance under Fudan University, Shanghai. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has quietly and pervasively found its way into ordinary daily consumption scenarios, reshaping public life in subtle yet profound ways. The 2026 National Day holiday, China's influential and large‑scale national consumption event, is an ideal window to observe this silent technological upgrade. The widespread smart services across tourism, cultural consumption and daily life embody the concrete implementation of China's industrial development strategies this year.

These strategies advance manufacturing intelligence, green development and integrated growth, and empower the service industry through demand‑driven reform and technological innovation. They show how China's smart manufacturing stretches from industrial production lines to people's daily‑life scenarios.

Smart experiences empower cultural tourism

As cultural tourism consumption booms during the holiday, museums have become top travel destinations, with popular venues often fully booked. AI has fundamentally upgraded people's cultural experience. Tourists can pull up information about cultural relics, including their historical backgrounds and artistic values, simply by snapping a photo via mobile‑based AI assistants.

Museums are now offering a more advanced form of intelligent service to enhance visitors' on‑site viewing experience. More and more provincial‑level museums in China are rolling out smart‑glass guided‑tour services. Affordable and user‑friendly, these AI‑powered devices transform passive viewing into immersive, in‑depth cultural exploration, enabling ordinary visitors to enjoy professional and refined smart tourism experiences. This booming AI‑enabled cultural service perfectly interprets how technological empowerment is optimizing the service industry and meeting the diversified consumption demands of the public.

Inclusive AI breaks barriers

Mountain‑view sightseeing ranks among the most popular holiday activities across China, attracting visitors of all age groups. Many look forward to hiking up famous mountains during their holiday trips, wishing to enjoy panoramic scenery from the summits. But the steep, winding mountain paths demand considerable physical strength and in the past, limited mobility could restrict the physically disadvantaged. Now, however, thanks to the iterative upgrading of China's smart manufacturing and AI algorithms, lightweight and intelligent wearable exoskeleton devices that fit over the body to boost strength, support posture, or assist with movement, are turning this wish into reality. 

Optimized by AI‑powered gait recognition and adaptive power adjustment technologies, modern exoskeletons are light and adaptable to ordinary tourists' needs. Since 2025, major scenic spots have introduced such devices at affordable rental prices. For example, At Mount Tai, a peak with historical and cultural significance in Shandong Province, east China, more than 60% of exoskeleton renters are tourists aged 60 and above. With technological support, many more visitors can now reach mountain summits, demonstrating how smart‑manufactured products enrich travel possibilities.

Full industrial chain underpins AI adoption

The large‑scale popularization and inclusive application of AI services in holiday consumption scenarios stems not from single technological breakthroughs, but from China's complete and mature intelligent manufacturing industrial chain. In recent years, China has developed a complete industrial ecosystem for AI, spanning upstream research on AI algorithms and core chips, mass production of smart hardware in the middle‑stream, and downstream efforts to turn technical ideas into usable real‑world products and business solutions.

This robust supply‑chain infrastructure is helping emerging tech firms such as Huawei, Xiaomi and iFlytek build rich product lines for the consumer market. It is also enabling established home appliance brands to advance their technological transformation toward AI‑powered offerings.

China's super‑large consumer market provides massive real‑world scenario data for technological iteration, forming a positive cycle where market demands drive manufacturing upgrading, and optimized manufacturing further empowers consumer services.

People-centered AI innovation fuels future breakthroughs

The prevalence of inclusive AI services during the National Day holiday vividly reflects the core philosophy of China's smart manufacturing development: Technological progress ultimately serves people's well‑being. It pursues demand‑driven, tech‑empowered growth in the service sector, alongside intelligent, green and integrated upgrading within manufacturing. Drawing on its full industrial system and huge‑scale domestic market, China keeps fostering real‑world application scenarios and new business models for AI.

Ultimately, just like the breakthrough debut of AI research DeepSeek in early 2025, which reshaped the industry with innovative technologies and inclusive application models, China will witness more such "DeepSeek moments" in the future. These technological and industrial breakthroughs will fuel China's high‑quality industrial transformation. They will also offer valuable application scenarios, proven industrial experiences and inclusive development opportunities for global‑level AI innovation and smart‑manufacturing advancement.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)