Some of the humanoid robots set to compete in Beijing's upcoming half-marathon completed their first practice run on Sunday.
The race, scheduled for April 19 in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, will feature both robotic and human athletes competing on the same route but on separate tracks. Guardrail fences or median strips will separate the lanes to ensure safety for all participants.
Over 20 teams from leading companies and universities participated in the test run.
This year's event marks a significant technological shift, introducing autonomous navigation robot teams that rely solely on electronic maps and on-board decision-making systems. This contrasts with last year's race, where robots were controlled or guided remotely by technicians.
The race course has also seen a major overhaul, featuring more challenging city slopes, undulating terrains, and paths that run through public parks. The complex route pushes robots to demonstrate higher levels of terrain adaptability and sophisticated motion control algorithms.
The main goal of this practice run was to validate the robots' technical readiness and to evaluate their autonomous operation in a realistic urban environment. Focus areas included environmental perception, real-time navigation, decision-making and endurance, ensuring the robots can adapt to the race's diverse conditions.
On April 19, 2025, Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, clocked two hours, 40 minutes, and 42 seconds, winning this historic 21.0975-kilometer race among 20 competing teams. Meanwhile, Ethiopian runners won both the men's and women's half-marathons.
Humanoid robots complete first practice run for half-marathon in Beijing
Armed police officers and soldiers, in coordination with multiple professional rescue forces, are conducting in-depth search and rescue operations for missing people in the core disaster zone in Mingkeng Village of east China's Jiangxi Province.
At around 07:00 on Tuesday, the rescue headquarters integrated 12 professional teams, including the armed police, public security, and the fire department, to launch a search-and-rescue operation for missing persons in the hardest-hit area of the Shixia group of Mingkeng Village.
As of 18:00 on Tuesday, the mudslide that occurred in the early hours of Saturday has killed 12 people, including one newly identified missing person found in subsequent searches. At present, one person remains unaccounted for, and rescue forces are intensifying their search and rescue efforts.
Meanwhile, the Ji'an Detachment of the Jiangxi Armed Police Force deployed officers and soldiers to extend rescue efforts to surrounding disaster-affected townships.
On Tuesday morning, rescuers split into multiple teams and rushed to several villages in Zuo'an Township and Tanghu Township of Suichuan County to urgently evacuate the trapped residents.
Trapped in mountainous areas, villagers faced destroyed access roads and mountain paths that became slippery and impassable after days of heavy rainfall; most stranded residents were elderly people with limited mobility. The armed police officers and soldiers conducted door-to-door checks and carried the trapped residents on their backs, successfully evacuating all of them to safe zones.
"All village roads are completely impassable. The local residents here are all left-behind elderly people and children, and it is extremely difficult to complete the evacuation relying solely on the strength of the town government officials. This time, we are deeply indebted to the armed police officers and soldiers for their assistance in evacuating all these elderly residents," said Wang Yuli, deputy mayor of Tanghu Township in Suichuan County.
"The mountain slopes are covered in thick mud, making the ground extremely slippery. In some sections, stretchers cannot pass through at all, so rescuers have to carry the stranded people on their backs. As long as the people are safe, it is worthwhile to endure all the hardship and exhaustion," said Jiang Jiang, a soldier of the Ji'an Detachment of the Jiangxi Armed Police Force.
Rescuers intensify search efforts in mudslide-hit village in east China's Jiangxi
