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0The Hardest Reservation in China Is a Factory Tour
From: The Wall Street Journal
When Yang Xingyue heard that tech company Xiaomi was offering free tours of its electric-vehicle plant, she dropped everything and applied for tickets.
The odds weren't good. After Xiaomi launched an online lottery last January for public access to its highly-automated facility on the outskirts of Beijing, locals and tourists rushed to enter. Word spread on social media. Influencers looking for a perfect photo op competed against tiger moms hoping that a glimpse of the robot-powered assembly lines might inspire their kids to pursue tech careers.
More than 100,000 people entered the lottery for about 200 tours in December and January, making the EV plant harder to get into than some competitive colleges.
Yang, a car aficionado, wanted to give her 2-year-old son a close-up look at the factory. To her amazement, she was selected for a tour last March, allowing her to bring up to two guests.
“I was very lucky,” said the 35-year-old content-creator in Beijing.
But her son wouldn't be joining her; Xiaomi requires children to be at least 6 to attend. She brought a friend instead, and plans to go back when her son is old enough.
It was Yang's first visit to a factory. During the one-hour tour, she saw hundreds of automated robotic arms and machines on the factory floor. According to Xiaomi, the plant churns out a new car every 76 seconds. She said she came away with a newfound appreciation for how fast China's technology has developed.
“It was a very advanced industrial factory,” she said. “I thought, 'Oh, so this is how cars are made.'”
That's one reason industrial tourism is taking over China. Beijing is drumming up national pride in its high-tech manufacturing, as the country known as the world's factory floor has also become a global leader in advanced technologies. The municipal government recently set a goal of attracting 20 million industrial tourism visits annually by 2027.
Chinese companies, meanwhile, are looking for novel ways to connect with customers in the country's uber-competitive market. People are flocking to factory tours hosted by EV maker NIO, dairy manufacturer Mengniu, brewer Tsingtao and others.
Xiaomi, a top phone maker that launched its first EV in 2024, began offering its public tours after receiving requests from customers. The company bumped up the number to 126 for January from 118 in December to accommodate increased demand from students on winter break.
One mom who scored a slot last month said seeing her daughter's eyes light up in the factory made the trip from their home in neighboring Hebei province worth it.
“The best education is letting children see the power of technology with their own eyes,” she wrote on social-media platform Xiaohongshu. “It's more effective than saying 'study hard' a hundred times.”
【重点词汇】
lottery /ˈlɑːtəri/ n. 抽签，抽奖
- I won a ticket in the lottery. 我抽中了一张票。
automated /ˈɔːtəmeɪtɪd/ adj. 自动化的
- The airport has an automated check-in system. 机场有一个自动化的值机系统。
assembly line /əˈsembli laɪn/ n. 装配线
- He works on an assembly line at the factory. 他在工厂的装配线上工作。
advanced /ədˈvænst/ adj. 先进的，高级的
- He is reading an advanced textbook. 他正在看一本高级教材。
flock /flɑːk/ v. 成群结队地涌去
- People flock to the beach in summer. 夏天人们成群结队地去海滩。
