LINGSHUI, China, July 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The organizers of the HaiNan-Southeast Asia AI Hardware Battle (HNSE AHB) are pleased to announce an expanded prize package for this year's competition and an extended deadline for entries. Organized by TechNode and TNGlobal, and presented by Lingshui Li Autonomous County Development Group Holdings Limited, the competition will now award each of the Top 10 winners a minimum two-week in-store showcase at select CCC Group retail outlets across Japan, including the iconic Tsutaya Books chain.
This retail opportunity is powered by the Japan-based crowdfunding platform GREEN FUNDING, which is now a strategic partner of HNSE AHB, further strengthening the program's bridge between Asian hardware innovation and global consumer markets.
The new retail benefit extends HNSE AHB's original incentives, which already include round-trip airfare to the Grand Finale in Hainan on July 26, 2025, booth exhibition passes at the "Tech Meets Art" Festival, global media exposure, and investor matchmaking opportunities. HNSE AHB now gives founders direct access to Japan's influential tech-lifestyle audience. CCC Group operates more than 800 Tsutaya stores, widely regarded as design-forward cultural hubs that attract early adopters and trend watchers.
Products selected for the showcase must (1) confirm a campaign launch on the GREEN FUNDING platform, (2) clear GREEN FUNDING's internal screening process, and (3) meet CCC Group's scheduling criteria for store category fit and campaign timeline. Store locations and display periods will be determined at GREEN FUNDING's discretion, ensuring that each product is matched to the most suitable Tsutaya venue. Full terms and conditions are available from the HNSE AHB organizing team.
"By combining the creative reach of GREEN FUNDING with the cultural influence of Tsutaya Books, we are offering founders an end-to-end pathway from prototype to Japanese consumers in record time," said Dr. Gang Lu, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the TechNode Group. "This is exactly the kind of market-entry catalyst our competition was designed to deliver."
Japan remains a leading global market for consumer technology, yet localization hurdles—ranging from language to retail distribution—can be a hurdle for overseas startups. GREEN FUNDING, founded in 2011 and owned by the CCC Group, is recognized as one of Japan's top crowdfunding portals for creative tech gadgets. Its promotion of hardware campaigns through both digital backer communities and physical Tsutaya stores has proven highly effective in driving early sales and media coverage.
Key dates: applications are extended to July 12, 2025, while on-site finals take place July 26, 2025 in Lingshui, Hainan, followed by the award ceremony on July 27, 2025. Eligible teams—startups and established firms alike—must present an AI-driven hardware product that has reached at least the prototype stage and fits one of HNSE AHB's focus sectors, including smart home, wearables, smart vehicles, robotics, and VR/AR.
With GREEN FUNDING now a strategic partner, HNSE AHB offers what we believe is an unparalleled launchpad: pitch in Hainan, secure investor backing, and debut in Japan's most celebrated lifestyle bookstores—all within the same summer. The countdown to the application deadline has begun; we look forward to welcoming the region's brightest hardware talents to the stage.
Interested innovators can apply via the registration link on the official event page at https://technode.global/hnse-ahb, scan the QR code in the poster, or contact elliesoo@technode.com for further guidance.
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Contact Person: Ellie Soo
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Email: elliesoo@technode.com
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HNSE Asia AI Hardware Battle 2025 Adds Japan Retail Showcase for Top 10 Winners; Application Deadline Extended to July 12
ANSHUN, China, May 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 21, at the Guizhou Anshun Tourism Development Conference, Mafengwo Travel Group officially launched three flagship "New Mountain Play" benchmark projects — Huangheying Water Cave, Lotus Ancient Cave, and Luoyang Glasswater Gorge — while jointly releasing the 2026 Anshun Mountain Outdoor New Play Playbook with the Anshun Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, TV and Tourism. By redefining mountain outdoor travel experiences through "new play," the initiative injects fresh momentum into Anshun's positioning as an international mountain tourism destination.
"Personalized travel is rising rapidly. Tourism is transitioning from a 'sightseeing economy' to an 'experience economy.' More than just 'having been there,' travelers today seek emotional value from scenic spots and related projects," said Chen Gang, Founder and CEO of Mafengwo, in a speech titled *Co-creating the Super Play Era of Mountain Tourism*. He noted that leveraging benchmark new-play projects such as Huangheying Water Cave, Lotus Ancient Cave, and Luoyang Glasswater Gorge, Mafengwo will work with Anshun to integrate "new play, new formats, new marketing, and new consumption" into a holistic innovation ecosystem for destination-wide play. Together, they aim to revitalize natural resources, energize industrial momentum, link rural revitalization, and jointly build Anshun into a national hub for new mountain play.
At a time when travelers are increasingly weary of "man-made check-in spots" and homogenized internet-famous projects, the newly launched projects abandon the old path of large-scale construction. Instead, they return to the wild itself, adopting a "light development, heavy experience" approach to create mountain plays that are "wild on the outside, refined on the inside." Huangheying Water Cave focuses on "natural wonders + interactive adventure," using its original "water-cave" karst features to create a genuine sense of "underground exploration." Lotus Ancient Cave, based on a massive natural cave, integrates "light ultimate" activities such as via ferrata, rappelling, and cave drop towers, allowing ordinary visitors to feel adrenaline-pumping "heart-racing moments" in a natural setting. Luoyang Glasswater Gorge follows the original river course, using natural elevation differences to design trails for hiking, canyoning, and waterfall rappelling, with minimal artificial construction, emphasizing the pristine "glass water" and an eco-harmonious, back-to-nature mountain experience.
At the "2026 Anshun Mountain Tourism New Play" sharing session, Mafengwo Travel Group and the Anshun Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, TV and Tourism jointly released the *2026 Anshun Mountain Outdoor New Play Playbook*. Ten selected plays in non-traditional mountain settings were featured, including "Night Tour of Dupo Tang — Immersive Journey into the World of Journey to the West," "Watch Intangible Cultural Heritage 'Spider-Man' Climb Cliffs for Bird's Nests," and "370-Meter Free Fall at Balinghe Bridge." These showcase how Anshun creatively uses its karst landscapes as a natural "amusement park" for mountain experiences.
He Weihong, Vice Mayor of Anshun, stated in his address: "In Anshun, the 'City of 21°C,' mountains are no longer just scenery to be viewed. They are living fields to be climbed, immersed in, jumped over, and breathed in. Anshun will take this conference as an opportunity to accelerate the internationalization of its mountain tourism and build a first-class mountain outdoor sports destination." During the event, Anshun Tourism Group also promoted its mountain outdoor travel routes.
By early 2026, the number of outdoor sports participants in China had exceeded 400 million, with participation in mountain hiking, trail running, rock climbing, and canyoning rising year by year. Driven by the dual trends of "nationwide fitness" and "pan-outdoor" activities, mountain play is moving from niche circles to the general public. Unlike the high barriers of traditional outdoor activities, Anshun's new plays target the blue ocean market of "light ultimate + strong experience + high shareability." Whether it's a "bridge bungee jump," checking out the natural wonder "Eye of the Great Sage," or experiencing a "Journey to the West fantasy" at night by Dupo Tang Waterfall — these activities are novel, beginner-friendly, and serve as natural content and social currency.
Anshun's mountain play innovation has also attracted international attention. Anouar, Chief Representative of the Tunisian National Tourism Office in China, noted in his speech that Anshun's innovation in integrating mountain tourism and sports is worth learning from for many international peers. He noted that Tunisia has diverse mountain resources across the country, with history embedded in the mountains and culture in the scenery — this is the unique charm of Tunisia's mountains. He looks forward to China-Tunisia cooperation to explore more mountain tourism opportunities and co-create new partnership models.
An international dialogue session brought together representatives from the Norwegian National Tourist Board, Visit Flanders (Belgium), and the Saudi Tourism Authority to discuss mountain outdoor tourism upgrade from a global perspective. The guests agreed that they were delighted to see that Anshun is not simply replicating a "Switzerland of the East" but is creating an entirely new "universal language of mountain tourism." The internationalization of mountain tourism is not about imitation but about excavating the unique narratives of local landscapes — with its green mountains and clear waters as the canvas and play innovation as the brush, Anshun is painting a vibrant new picture for the world.
A domestic dialogue session brought together frontier explorers, practitioners, and experts in mountain sports tourism to discuss the future development of mountain sports tourism from the perspectives of communities, products, and operations. Qin Chuan, Founder of Wanan Youth Travel, noted that with technological advancements and equipment iteration, more and more "outdoor novices" without professional training can enjoy the pleasures of the wild. Currently, Wanan Youth Travel is selecting and developing "super single products" and continuously improving service quality to deliver ultimate outdoor experiences to visitors.
After the conference, industry guests conducted on-site inspections of new play projects, including Lotus Ancient Cave, Dupo Tang Night Tour, Anshun Ancient Town, and Getu River. Wang Yu, Chief Representative of the Norwegian National Tourist Board in Greater China, remarked: "Anshun and Norway share many similarities. Anshun's new mountain plays emphasize 'light development, heavy experience.' Take Lotus Ancient Cave — it doesn't feel like a 'designed' scenic spot, but rather an extension of Anshun's natural mountain charm itself, an experiential field you can fully immerse yourself in. The scale of this 'light ultimate' experience is just right — thrilling enough, yet truly authentic."
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Light Ultimate, High Experience, Original Ecology, Personalization -- Mafengwo and Anshun Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, TV and Tourism Co-create New Forms of Mountain Tourism
Light Ultimate, High Experience, Original Ecology, Personalization -- Mafengwo and Anshun Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, TV and Tourism Co-create New Forms of Mountain Tourism
