JINAN, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Amid the mist-shrouded trails of Mount Tai in east China's Shandong Province, a futuristic scene is unfolding as a robotic dog hauls goods uphill and carries waste downhill.
A silver-gray machine, roughly a meter long, navigates the steep stone steps with steady precision. Strapped to its back is a bulging nylon canvas bag filled with bottled water. Moving at a constant pace alongside tourists, this four-legged machine is not a sci-fi prop, but the latest member of the mountain's workforce.
Renowned for its grueling terrain, Mount Tai is one of China's most iconic peaks. For centuries, the arduous task of transporting supplies up the mountain relied entirely on human porters. Today, the robotic dog has emerged as the "new porter."
Despite its compact size, the machine possesses impressive capabilities. It can bear a static load of up to 120 kilograms and operates for four to six hours on a single charge. Equipped with high-resolution cameras, LiDAR, and various sensors, it effortlessly identifies obstacles and navigates slopes as steep as 45 degrees, according to scenic area officials.
With Mount Tai generating approximately 24,000 tonnes of waste annually, the rugged topography has long made garbage removal a backbreaking endeavor. "The arrival of the robotic dog is expected to significantly reduce manual labor and improve efficiency," said Wang Yunpeng, a local manager at the scenic area.
Carrying 30 to 45 kilograms per trip -- comparable to a human porter's load -- the robot can work tirelessly as long as its battery is swapped. Since going into service, the mechanical porter has become a viral sensation, with hikers frequently stopping to snap photos and marvel at its agility.
Posing for a picture alongside the robotic dog, Wang Liang, a visitor from Qingdao, said he hopes the machine will see continuous upgrades to better serve Mount Tai's tourism.
The robotic dog is just one facet of the broader "Smart Mount Tai" initiative. Last year, the scenic area introduced climbing-assist exoskeletons, marking one of the first large-scale deployments of such technology in the tourism sector.
Weighing just 1.8 kilograms, the wearable device uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to reduce a climber's physical exertion by over 30 percent.
These technological integrations are part of a comprehensive digital transformation at Mount Tai, which has incorporated AI, IoT, cloud computing and VR/AR to build an intelligent management system covering fire dispatch, crowd control and smart tourism services.
This localized evolution aligns with China's broader push to integrate AI into daily life and key industries, a strategy outlined in national guidelines last year. The AI Plus Initiative targets extensive AI adoption across six key areas by 2027: technology, industry, consumption, social services, governance and global cooperation.
Scenic spots across the country are actively driving this digital transition. At Mount Huangshan in east China's Anhui Province, local authorities have developed AI travel assistants, deployed drones for cargo transport, and introduced climbing exoskeletons.
Meanwhile, in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, tourism departments have introduced biomimetic robotic fish to West Lake, one of China's most iconic and historic scenic destinations. This autonomous device patrols the water to monitor temperature and pH levels, detect invasive species, and transmit real-time ecological data to command centers.
This surge in cross-regional technological adoption reflects China's accelerating AI application, as it is taken from research laboratories and integrated practically into daily life. ■
