Technology has changed life for the better. Today, many Chinese cities are equipped with tech-enabled services like mobile payment and e-commerce. However, there is one city in China that is taking this to a whole new level.

YANG CHENGXI HANGZHOU "Hangzhou is home to some of China's biggest technology firms. According to an industry white paper last year Hangzhou was dubbed the smartest city in China. Why? Tech firms here have been working closely with public services. Citizens can now feel the transformational impact of technology on many aspects of life."

Tech giant Alibaba is working with the local traffic police. In a trial program, 128 traffic signal lampposts are connected to the firm's cloud computing system called City Brain. It can collect a range of real time traffic data from video surveillance cameras, microwave detectors to mobile app data.

MIN WANLI, CHIEF SCIENTIST ALI CLOUD, ALIBABA GROUP "And back-end it has data digestion. This step is actually a key component. Essentially it tries to combine the dots. Combine different feature together and compare against the past feature of patterns and try to identify any deviation, any abnormal behavior from usual."

Then the system uses algorithms to report possible car crashes, and can even automatically alter traffic lights to let ambulances rush through.

SUN SHIXIANG, DEPUTY DIRECTOR PUBLIC SECURITY SUB-BUREAU OF XIAOSHAN DISTRICT, HANGZHOU "These maneuvers are all done in real time, unlike before when we had to manually monitor."

The trial region now has a 15 percent shorter pass through time, and the City Brain system flags about 500 incidents per day with 92 percent accuracy. Another company, iFlytek, which is setting up its regional headquarters in Hangzhou, has been working with high schools. Two first grade classes in this senior high school have been experimenting with using iFlytek-supported tablets to go through course materials and exercises.

LAI JIANLIN PHYSICS TEACHER "After the students finish the exercises, I will have a visual report of how they fared. I will then prepare classes accordingly. The system can analyze everyone's weaknesses and give them individually-tailored exercises."

The school says it will expand this practice to all 24 classes by the next semester. iFlytek is also using its voice recognition technologies to assist one of the top and busiest hospitals in the city.

NIU LUOYONG, DIRECTOR INFORMATION CENTER, HANGZHOU FIRST PEOPLE'S HOSPITAL "Last year, we started using this service robot to give directions to patients. Also, our Stomatology department has been experimenting with a voice-based medical filing system."

Doctor Zhang never needed a pen to give a prescription.

ZHANG XIONG, CHIEF PHYSICIAN HANGZHOU FIRST PEOPLE'S HOSPITAL "Initially, the system needed to get accustomed to my accent. But by working with iFlytek, it gradually learned and improved. I now write prescriptions 50 percent faster than before."

With all these upgrades, Hangzhou has become a testing ground for innovative public services solutions. It will take time for them to show their full effects. But the companies and the service professionals do hope that, in the future, Hangzhou will be THE place to be for living a high-tech life. YCX CGTN HANGZHOU, ZHEJIANG PROVINCE.