A handmade plush lamb doll dressed in traditional Xinjiang clothing has surged in popularity as a must-buy souvenir in Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
This cultural creative item, which combines Xinjiang's local charm with an adorable design, has effectively boosted cultural tourism in Kashgar and broadened the promotion and sales channels for local specialty products.
With its floral cap and gemstone pendant, the "Xinjiang Lamb" doll carries a distinct local character, helping a specialty shop owner draw nationwide clicks and sales during livestreams.
"I live-stream for about five hours a day and sell around 30 to 50 little lamb dolls," said Du Ling, the shop owner.
Stalls selling the "Xinjiang Lamb" dolls are also booming in the ancient city of Kashgar, with many local handicraft merchants offering customized services, enabling tourists to select accessories and create their own unique lamb dolls.
"I chose the hat, the accessories, and even the little gems on the lamb doll myself," said a tourist.
With its cute look, rich local character, and customization experience, the "Xinjiang Lamb" doll is more than a toy. It is a small yet powerful carrier of Xinjiang's charm.
"Among all these little lamb dolls, the one wearing this dress and necklace looks the best because it has that Xinjiang character. That's why I really love this one," said another tourist.
Handmade plush lamb doll goes viral as must-buy souvenir in China's Xinjiang
China has made contributions to facilitating dividends of artificial intelligence (AI) available for emerging and developing economies, said AI strategist Joe Weinman.
In an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Joe Weinman said AI is rapidly reshaping industries and daily life. China's export of AI computing tokens offers developing countries access to its advanced AI capabilities, he said.
"I think, if you just look at models of other technologies, you probably see exactly the path forward to do that. If you look at mobile telephony, as an example, you look at internet development, what you find is that a mix of individual national initiatives and funding arrangements, coupled with a degree of openness and sharing of the technology, probably coupled with the commercial interests, in other words, company self-interest, wanting to go ahead and pursuing untapped markets. They can access AI power, like I know China is very interested in exporting tokens as in basically a person, somewhere in a lesser developed country or an enterprise, or even a government in that lesser developed country, can access AI computing capabilities that are remote, perhaps in western China or perhaps in the Arctic or anywhere else," he said.
AI helps to break through barriers in different sectors, allowing individuals and enterprises across the world to equally enjoy incredible power, Weinman said.
"So the big advantage of AI -- if we think about AI as a beneficial force that can act to equalize economic benefits -- is that it's not heavy. It's not like moving a piano or like moving a nuclear power plant. Anyone with an internet connection can access AI power instantaneously. So what that means is, literally, I could be living barefoot in a remote village, and as long as I have some sort of internet connection, which doesn't even need to be wired. It could be like a satellite connection. I can access the same incredible power that the most advanced scientists sitting in a research lab in the biggest city in the world can," he said.
"So in a way, it's a great democratizing force. In a way, also, it's a challenge, because if you're a company, then you never know where some random, disruptive development and innovation is going to come from or some entirely new product concept, whether it be digital or physical," he continued.
China facilitates AI dividends available for emerging, developing economies: AI strategist
