In China, a humanoid robot runs a shop truck and sells water and souvenirs to tourists

In Jingdezhen, TMTPost journalists saw the G1 robot working as a shop assistant in a shop truck. It sells water and souvenirs, and draws many families with children.

The humanoid robot, the Galbot G1, greets customers, takes orders, handles payment, then picks up and hands over items without help. According to TMTPost, these shops are present in about 50 cities, at about 200 locations.

Another company operates more than 30 small robot-run shops at tourist sites. According to TMTPost, a single one of its robots serves more than 500 orders a day on average.

Just before National Day, another manufacturer deployed more than 300 robots at once in a theme park in Zhuhai, for sales, guided tours and science outreach. TMTPost describes the park as the first of its kind on a large scale in the world.

According to a partial count cited by TMTPost, more than 30 robotics companies have moved into tourism, retail and services this year. During National Day, several thousand robots were “on duty”.