Sanya receives 1st int'l cruise liner of 2025

The Port of Sanya in south China's Hainan Province received China's first international cruise ship of 2025 on Friday morning.

MV Piano Land, China's first independently operated state-owned cruise vessel carrying 456 passengers on this trip, docked at the Sanya Phoenix Island International Cruise Port Friday morning.

The cruise ship, which departed from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, will continue its voyage to Vietnam after the Sanya stop.

This route has adopted an innovative "dual homeport" model, in which passengers could choose to board either in Hong Kong or in Sanya as their home port, with a variety of itinerary options available.

"This route is very good and very fresh. The opening of this route has added a lot of new options for tourism in Hainan," said Zhao, a passenger.

To ensure the smooth customs clearance of the cruise ship and its passengers, the Sanya Border Inspection Station has developed a special duty plan.

The station has also strengthened port control during the ship's stay using gangway monitoring, fixed-point patrols, and video surveillance to manage the port's restricted area and ensure the safe and orderly boarding of passengers and crew.

"We have effectively streamlined the entry and exit procedures of cruise ships and their carriers, shortened the customs clearance time at ports, to provide an efficient, convenient and pleasant customs clearance environment for the vast number of inbound and outbound passengers," said Cheng Hao, captain of Sanya Border Inspection Station first patrol squad.

Piano Land, a 70,000-ton luxury ship, can accommodate more than 2,000 passengers. It's also the first international cruise ship to arrive in Sanya since the implementation of visa-free policy for foreign tourist groups entering China via cruise ships.

Sanya receives 1st int'l cruise liner of 2025

A Chinese team won the Battle of Robots at the Games of the Future 2025, which kicked off Thursday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

As one of the 11 robot competition projects, the Battle of Robots has attracted 16 teams from countries including the United States, Russia, Belarus and India.

To win in the fierce competition and prevent likely flaws in the robots, Qi Wenjie, the team leader, said that they made updates to the robots to contain current surges, a problem that could occur frequently and cause severe damage to the robots during competition .

"In combat, robots often encounter serious locked-rotor that can cause a sudden increase in current within the motors, leading to damage. It is a very common problem in competition. To deal with the issue, we worked with our supplier to develop an algorithm that can promptly curb the sudden current surge. When the robot suffers locked-rotor or overload, the algorithm will help prevent the entire circuit system from operating abnormally," said Qi.

The team also used a modular design to ensure a quick restoration for their robot.

"As the working environment for the robot is extremely harsh, it is very likely to cause damage during the confrontation. Therefore, by making the internal units modular, we can greatly increase the speed we replace the internal parts," said Qi.

Chinese team wins Battle of Robots at Games of the Future 2025