Taishan Mountain to host inaugural world robot competition in October

Taishan Mountain, one of China's Five Great Mountains, is a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The inaugural CMG World Robot Mount Tai (Taishan) Competition, set to take place in Tai'an, Shandong on Oct 29, bridges ancient heritage and cutting-edge technology.

The race will be held along the classic hiking route from Hongmen to Zhongtianmen — about 3.8 kilometers featuring more than 3,100 stone steps.

The competition features two main categories: speed racing and special challenges, including four official events for humanoid robots, legged robots, load-carrying legged robots, and exoskeleton-assisted climbing, plus one all-terrain scouting challenge. These events test robots' adaptability, autonomous navigation, and stable operation in complex environments. Preparations are now largely complete.

Held on the most revered of China's Five Great Mountains, the route passes numerous cliff inscriptions and ancient sites, creating a new model that blends technology, culture, and sport. The challenging terrain — featuring continuous steps, steep slopes, and narrow passages — places high demands on robots' perception, decision-making, and execution capabilities.

Taishan Mountain embraces new technology with smart robotic devices designed to enhance the visitor experience. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

During the event, Tai'an will also host an embodied intelligence industry development forum, an embodied intelligence industry expo, and technology-matchmaking sessions.

Leading enterprises, universities, research institutes, and investment institutions from home and abroad will be invited to participate, creating a platform for technical exchange, product display, supply-demand matching, and resource cooperation — enabling two-way empowerment between the competition and industrial development.

A short-video contest for the robot Taishan Mountain challenge will also be held to showcase competition highlights and expand its reach and influence.

In recent years, Tai'an has laid a solid foundation for robotics and embodied intelligence. It is one of China's 23 cities developing data labeling and leads Shandong in the market-oriented reform of data elements.

Hosting the inaugural CMG World Robot Mount Tai (Taishan) Competition will help Tai'an seize future industrial opportunities and boost its competitiveness. The city will leverage this event to deepen industry-university-research collaboration and attract high-quality robotics projects.

The inaugural CMG World Robot Mount Tai (Taishan) Competition to be held in Tai'an next month features over 3,100 steps and four events for various types of robots. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]