technology ·
Robots strut their stuff, race up sacred China mountain
Updated on: November 2, 2026 / 4:56 AM EST / AFP Dozens of robots took on more than 3,000 steps up one of China's most famous peaks Monday, many carrying eggs and watermelons in a race organizers billed as a test of real-world machine endurance, state media showed.
For hundreds of years, Mount Tai -- the tallest peak in China's eastern Shandong province -- was an important pilgrimage for Chinese emperors, and it features prominently in Chinese mythology. But the rugged terrain would prove a stern test for some competitors. One humanoid robot wearing a bandana collapsed in a heap on the cobbled route before engineers rushed in to repair it, while another tumbled down a flight of stairs and came to rest beside a rubbish bin. The UNESCO World Heritage site hosted technologies of the future as part of a new World Mountain Robot Challenge, footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed.
