{"id":1498,"date":"2025-07-13T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/?p=1498"},"modified":"2025-07-15T00:13:34","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T00:13:34","slug":"china-the-future-woven-into-the-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/13\/china-the-future-woven-into-the-present\/","title":{"rendered":"China: The future woven into the present"},"content":{"rendered":"

During a recent visit to Shanghai, China<\/a>, to attend the Mobile World Congress \u2014 the  world\u2019s largest exhibition and conference for the mobile technology industry \u2014 I expected to see flying delivery drones, machines autonomously completing mundane tasks and robots that talk. <\/p>\n

It was not that futuristic but I saw technology being developed to pave the way for such a future \u2014 and it was fascinating. <\/p>\n

The three-day conference had displays of new smart watches and laptops \u2014 one was 3D and another was transparent \u2014 and cars that were entirely automated and could transform from an SUV into a pick-up (a bakkie, in local terms). <\/p>\n

I teased a robot that copied my hand gestures and saw a human-figured robot carry and deliver a crate. The developers said it was a prototype. They spoke about other advancements, like faster 5G networks and assistants, powered by artificial intelligence, to hold us accountable with our diets, exercise and tasks. <\/p>\n

\n
\"20250619<\/figure>\n
\"20250619<\/figure>
Shanghai, with its brightly lit skyscrapers, hosted the Mobile World Congress, where robots were on display.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The really fascinating way that technology is deployed in China is in the streets. The locals had everything at their fingertips \u2014 literally. <\/p>\n

Ahead of the trip, I was informed that everything was cashless and mostly digital. I didn\u2019t need to worry about exchanging currencies and carrying cash. I just had to set my Visa card to international payments, and I was sorted. However, China has localised its pay options through WeChat and Alipay, so I was a bit limited in this regard. <\/p>\n

The country also localised its social media platforms \u2014 so the things the West uses to communicate: WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Google, were blocked. <\/p>\n

I found that out at the last second, so I downloaded a paid VPN to bypass the firewalls a few minutes before boarding a 12-hour flight to Hong Kong and hoped it would give me connection \u2014 just to let my family know I was safe, and share some pictures on Instagram, obviously. <\/p>\n

We flew Cathay Pacific \u2014 between viewing the plane glide through the clouds via the screen in front of me and bingeing on series, sleeping and daydreaming, I was somewhat entertained through the flight. <\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u2019s airport seemed pretty usual to me \u2014 big, well-lit with signboards everywhere \u2014 people in a rush or snoozing, and three South Africans looking for a meal at 6am (midnight South African time). China\u2019s Pudong International Airport even had sleep-pods! <\/p>\n

My first \u201cthis is cool!\u201d moment was before boarding my flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai. I had my boarding pass and passport in my hand, ready to give to the attendant at the gate. Instead, a camera scanned my weary face and in an instant confirmed my identity, my flight details and my seat number. No people needed. <\/p>\n

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\"20250618<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It was warm when we landed in Shanghai and the first step of the entry process was through a self-service e-channel or automated border control. I had input information from my travel documents, and scanned my fingerprints, so it could verify my identity. <\/p>\n

\u201cQuick and easy,\u201d I thought. But I still had to face the intimidating man at immigration control who triple-checked my passport before I stood before a screen that verified my identity \u2014 again. <\/p>\n

We proceeded to our DiDi \u2014 an e-hailing service \u2014 built into the WeChat app, to transport us to our hotel. It was an electric vehicle, a minibus, with automated doors, USB charging ports in the doors and the driver sat on the left-hand side. <\/p>\n

There were screens across the dashboard and some cars had screens in the back to provide entertainment for passengers. <\/p>\n

I downloaded Duolingo before the trip, in the hopes of learning some Chinese words to help me get around more easily, but I only used three: \u201cNi hao\u201d (hello), xi\u00e8xie (thank you) and TsingTao (a brand of beer). <\/p>\n

Thankfully, the locals had a translation app to lower the language barrier. They spoke into it, and the app read the translation back to us in English. We responded in English and they read the Chinese translation. It was easier than I expected.<\/p>\n

The cars were mostly electric, so the roads were not fogged with fumes. I expected a clean city, so I wasn\u2019t surprised by that, but I was pleased to see pot plants with gorgeous flowers lining the highways. <\/p>\n

The roads wound high and low between bridges and buildings. The pavements on the inner-city streets were lined with yellow and turquoise bicycles and multi-coloured scooters decorated with little stickers. They were parked under the shade of the many leafy trees in Shanghai. <\/p>\n

The scooters were also electric and the bicycles were accessible to anyone. Locals use an app to unlock the shared bicycles for 1.5RMB (R4) for an hour and up to 2RMB (R5) for the day. Locals can either buy an electric scooter or hire them from a company for about 280RMB (R700) a month.<\/p>\n

There was always movement in the streets \u2014 elderly women drove scooters as swiftly as the hipster 20-year-olds. Locals were constantly on their phones \u2014 while walking, eating, working and even driving. <\/p>\n

I was not accustomed to exposing my devices out of fear of being robbed, but in China, I learnt to be a bit free with that. I appreciated that part of the communist state. <\/p>\n

The hotel had a little robotic helper that glided across the ground floor, through the lifts and back to its spot until it was given its next task. Kind of like the robot vacuum cleaners in homes, but this one was half my height and had a compartment to deliver food or parcels to customers. It even had a cutesy bow tie and suit jacket as a whimsical detail. That seemed very futuristic to me and exactly how I imagined China to be. <\/p>\n

In the evenings the city transformed into another world \u2014 the soft tones of the trees and the quiet humming from the electric vehicles were replaced by bright neon lights, music and a playground for Shanghai\u2019s children, adults, friends and lovers. <\/p>\n

Swings whooshed, the merry-go-rounds whirled and kids moved around in quirky electric cars with lights and music. <\/p>\n

Surveillance cameras are stuck into corners of billboards and buildings \u2014 something I became very aware of, once I noticed them. <\/p>\n

Shanghai\u2019s skyline was more than I imagined it to be \u2014 tall skyscrapers and bright lights \u2014 which mesmerised and overwhelmed me. <\/p>\n

The colonial-style buildings at The Bund, which overlooks the Huangpu River, glowed in a brilliant gold. This is the business district and is home to the country\u2019s central bank. I was fascinated by the glamour of the space. <\/p>\n

I went up the second-tallest building in the world, The Shanghai Tower, to observe the city from above, and I got to experience the city from down below \u2014 walking alongside locals in People\u2019s Square towards The Bund, and eat and shop at Xintiandi and at The Yuyuan Bazaar. This is a beautiful market characterised by traditional Chinese architecture, featuring curved roofs, wood carvings and colourful lanterns. <\/p>\n

My eating experiences deserve their own chapter but the spicy, soupy noodles; tangy seafood and dumplings, mushrooms, flower-bud teas and the best coffee I ever have are still lingering on my taste buds. <\/p>\n

It was a novel experience but the future I had imagined \u2014 flying drones and talking robots \u2014 wasn\u2019t hovering dramatically overhead. Instead, it was woven quietly into daily life, in the silent glide of electric vehicles, the soft whir of delivery robots and the glow of neon lights reflecting off skyscrapers. <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t science fiction; it was practical, human and happening now. And while I might have arrived expecting spectacle, I left marvelling at how seamlessly technology and city life had blended \u2014 a glimpse of what might one day become ordinary, everywhere. <\/p>\n

The journalist\u2019s trip to Shanghai, China was sponsored by Huawei Technologies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During a recent visit to Shanghai, China, to attend the Mobile World Congress \u2014 the  world\u2019s largest exhibition and conference for the mobile technology industry \u2014 I expected to see flying delivery drones, machines autonomously completing mundane tasks and robots that talk.  It was not that futuristic but I saw technology being developed to pave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1498"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1504,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498\/revisions\/1504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}