When the electronics street becomes a showroom
On 17 October, Shenzhen News reported that Huaqiangbei, the city’s storied electronics district, used a shopping mall to stage its first “Future Shenzhen Happens” technology and lifestyle festival. Over 16 to 18 October, the event turned a Futian commercial complex into a walkable tech street where residents could meet the products up close rather than read about them.
The line-up mixed daily companionship, outdoor sport and entertainment. AI plant desktop pets showed how smart hardware pairs with emotional companionship. Outdoor powered exoskeletons let visitors feel what assisted movement looks like. Interactive robot dogs turned a routine stroll into a game. The point was not a static display. The goods became something people could touch, ride and play with.
The companies behind the booths
The festival gathered Ausha Intelligent, Elephant Robotics, Anjie Robotics and other innovators, who presented their results through stage shows, street parades and human-robot interaction. For families, an “AI challenge cup” youth contest slotted robotics education into public space, giving weekend crowds a reason to linger. Organisers even launched a robot mascot, “Xiaohang”, and strung the zones together with stamp-collection checkpoints.
Huaqiangbei’s shift fits a broader change in the district. As artificial intelligence, smart hardware and robotics matured, its commercial content expanded from trading components to staging experiences, trend consumption and leisure. During the Dragon Boat holiday, AI glasses, AI robots and AI drones already posted strong sales gains, and the National Day period kept that heat: daily footfall above one million, roughly 40 per cent higher than usual, with restaurants and retail busy across the complexes.
Why a mall, and why now
The venue, the COCO Park complex, has spent the year refreshing its public space, adding green landscape walks and planning a bridge that links the centre park to Huaqiangbei. Pulling robotics and smart hardware into the concourse gives brands a direct channel to consumers and gives shoppers a new reason to visit. For Huaqiangbei, the draw of tech consumption is spreading from the specialist electronics markets to the surrounding malls, dining and leisure.
As Shenzhen’s tech industry accelerates and new consumption scenes multiply, innovations walking into the mall and up to the buyer are becoming a small but real snapshot of how the district reinvents itself.
More from the original report
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original Shenzhen News report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://www.sznews.com/news/content/2026-10/17/content_32194134.htm.