From Hiccups To Convenience: A Malaysian's Journey Through Guiyang's Digital Economy
From Abdul Hamid A Rahman
GUIYANG, CHINA, Aug 30 (Bernama) -- As a Malaysian journalist on assignment to observe Guiyang’s growing digital economy during Merdeka month, my first lesson about life in one of China’s emerging technology cities did not come from an artificial intelligence laboratory, a data centre or an autonomous vehicle.
It came from a power bank.
A Minor Hiccup
My power bank was confiscated before a domestic flight from Guangzhou to Guiyang because it did not carry the certification required for domestic air travel, something I had not known before making the trip.
A small mistake on my part, perhaps, but enough to remind any traveller that even in an increasingly connected world, local rules still matter.
However, there was an equally quick solution.
Upon arrival at Guiyang airport, Wang Hao from People’s Daily Online and Zhang Luping, or Loopy, a postgraduate student in English translation who served as our translator during the visit, welcomed our group of foreign journalists.
They handed me a replacement power bank. It was a small gesture, but one that would later feel almost fitting.
I came to Guizhou as part of a media programme organised by People’s Daily Online in conjunction with the China International Big Data Industry Expo 2026, expecting to see how big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and other digital technologies were reshaping the province.
What I did not expect was how often that transformation would reveal itself not through presentations or technical explanations, but in ordinary moments between official visits. Some of those moments inevitably made me think of home.
Somewhere between a confiscated power bank, a cashless purchase at a street stall, a ride in an autonomous vehicle and an evening walk through Guiyang, the journey became less about observing technology from a distance and more about experiencing what convenience looks like when it becomes part of everyday life.
One of the people helping me understand that everyday Guiyang was Loopy, as she prefers to be called. Born and raised in the city, she is pursuing a master’s degree in English translation at Guizhou University after completing her undergraduate studies in English there.
She describes her hometown in three words: comfortable, friendly and energetic.
“Guiyang has changed a lot in recent years. The high-tech and digital industries are developing very quickly, especially in areas related to big data and AI.
“For young people, I think Guiyang is becoming a really good place to study, work and build a future,” she said.
Technology in Everyday Life
For a visitor, some of the clearest signs of that change require little explanation.
At one point, I watched Loopy rent a shared power bank from a charging station and later return it at another point operated by the same provider.
Users pay for the time they use it, but the attraction is obvious; there is no need to carry one around all day or worry about running out of battery while moving through the city.
The system was familiar to Loopy. For me, having just lost my own power bank at the airport, it was another small discovery.
“Technology is everywhere.
“Like the shared power banks you can see on the street or in shops. You can borrow one in one place and return it somewhere else. It’s really convenient,” she highlighted.
Transportation offered another glimpse of how technology is gradually moving into daily life.
Guiyang is a hilly and mountainous city, and much of its urban rail network runs underground. Above ground, travelling around the city felt urban and busy but also generally orderly and clean.
One of the more unusual rides during the trip was in a compact autonomous vehicle that locals call the “potato bus”, a fitting nickname in a province where potatoes occupy a special place in local food culture.
For now, the vehicle still carries a safety assistant to monitor operations.
Full driverless operation would depend not only on the technology itself but also on the relevant policies, rules and regulations being put in place.
Interestingly, it was Loopy’s first time riding it too, partly because the service currently operates within a limited area.
She said she felt safe during the journey and would be comfortable with the vehicle eventually operating without an onboard assistant once the technology and regulatory framework were ready.
That small detail was revealing, as even for someone born and raised in Guiyang, some of the technology emerging in her city remains something to discover. Guiyang is not living in a completely automated future.
Rather, parts of that future are gradually being tested, regulated and woven into ordinary life.
“For ordinary people, the most important thing is probably not how advanced the technology sounds, but whether it can actually make daily life easier,” Loopy said.
A sweeter reminder of that came while walking through a local street market.
I wanted to buy some matcha tea to bring home for families and colleagues but had no yuan to pay in cash. For a moment, I wondered whether that would become another minor travel hiccup.
Instead, a Malaysian e-wallet on my phone, connected through the Alipay+ cross-border payment network, allowed me to pay the street vendor electronically.
The transaction took only moments. That was perhaps what made it interesting.
Thousands of kilometres from Malaysia, a payment service from home connected almost invisibly with the digital infrastructure an ordinary vendor in Guiyang used.
I bought the tea, the vendor received the payment, and we continued on our way. There was no ceremony, but I was both happy and relieved.
During Merdeka month, it was a small reminder that Malaysia’s place in the world is also increasingly expressed through everyday connections like this.
These connections showed how easily Malaysians can travel, transact, communicate and participate in an increasingly integrated region.
Other forms of convenience appeared throughout the trip too.
At the airport, I encountered a smart vending cabinet where customers scan before opening the door, take what they want, and are charged according to the items removed.
Elsewhere, we saw AI-powered systems being demonstrated for commercial uses, including robots preparing coffee.
The official company visits gave us the larger picture of Guiyang’s ambitions in computing, big data and AI.
But it was often these smaller encounters that made those ambitions easier to understand.
The Human Layer
Yet the longer I stayed in Guiyang, the clearer it became that technology alone was not what made the city memorable.
That became apparent through Loopy herself.
When I needed to communicate with people who spoke only Chinese, I sometimes relied on my phone’s translation function, which could usually give me the basic words.
But after listening to a conversation, Loopy would sometimes explain a little more, providing the context, the tone or what the speaker was trying to convey. She does not see AI simply as a threat to translators.
Instead, she believed it pushes human translators to become better at providing the context, emotion and judgement that machines may still miss.
“When you communicate through an AI system, you may get the words, but you can miss a lot of emotion and other information,” she said.
It was a point I could understand without needing to visit an AI laboratory. The technology helped me communicate. A person, however, helped me understand.
And there were many other moments during the journey that had little to do with technology at all.
A taxi driver who initially seemed rather reserved became noticeably warmer after I thanked him with a simple “xie xie”, replying with the same words and a warmer expression. At a local restaurant, staff packed some fruit for me to take back after dinner.
They were small gestures, but travel is often remembered through exactly these kinds of things.
So too was an evening walk after dinner towards Jiaxiu Pavilion, one of Guiyang’s best-known landmarks, which is beside the river under the lights of the city.
At around 25 degrees Celsius that night, the summer air felt pleasantly cool, particularly to a Malaysian accustomed to warmer evenings.
Loopy said Guiyang’s climate is one reason many people from other parts of China visit during the summer.
Its mountainous geography helps keep temperatures cooler, while its pace of life, she said, can feel less pressured than in some of China’s largest cities.
“In major cities, life can be very fast-paced and stressful, but in Guiyang, you can slow down a little and enjoy life more,” she added.
Life Beyond Big Data
Food is very much part of that enjoyment.
Guizhou cuisine favours strong sour and spicy flavours, with fish, tofu, vegetables and local snacks among the many choices found around the city.
And then there are the potatoes. Loopy happily described them as Guizhou’s “local national food”.
They can be fried, roasted, mashed, seasoned with chilli, served as part of a meal or turned into snacks. Potato-themed souvenirs are also easy to spot.
“They’re simple, but people here really love them, and everyone seems to have their own favourite way of cooking or eating them,” she said.
Food also provided an easy bridge across cultures. At dinner, the subject that sparked real Southeast Asian passion was durian.
Loopy confessed her love for durian, prompting Thai journalist Sopit Wang and me to good-naturedly defend the merits of durians from our respective countries.
There was no serious Malaysia-Thailand rivalry at the table, just the familiar kind of friendly argument that emerges when Southeast Asians start talking about food.
Nobody changed anyone’s mind. That was probably never the point.
Those conversations revealed something an official technology itinerary could not.
Guiyang may want visitors to understand its development in big data and AI, but the city Loopy wanted us to know was also the one people experience after the presentations end.
“What I really wanted you to see was the everyday side of Guiyang.
“During the official programme, you can learn a lot about technology, big data and the development of the city, but I also wanted you to experience how local people actually live,” she said.
Her hopes for Guiyang reflect that balance. She wants the city to keep developing its technology, AI, and other new industries for young people to have more opportunities.
But she also does not want development to erase the things she already values about home.
“For me, the ideal Guiyang in five or ten years would be more modern and international. But the city should still feel like Guiyang, comfortable, friendly and liveable,” she said.
A Merdeka Thought to Bring Home
Perhaps that is also one useful thought to carry home during Malaysia’s Merdeka month.
We often describe national development through economic growth, investment, infrastructure, industrial strategies or increasingly sophisticated technology.
All are important.
But people eventually experience development at a much more personal level.
Does getting around become easier? Can a small trader participate in the digital economy? Can technology remove some of the friction from everyday life? Can a city create opportunities while remaining comfortable enough for people to actually enjoy living there?
And amid all that progress, is there still room for the things that cannot easily be measured, such as hospitality, humour, conversation, food and the simple warmth of another person?
My journey to Guiyang had begun with a power bank hiccup.
It ended at the airport with Loopy telling us that if we returned one day, she hoped we would come not only for work but also as leisure travellers.
After spending several days showing us the Guiyang of data centres, AI applications and emerging technologies, she invited us back to see more of the city beyond our assignments. Loopy wanted to show us the food, streets, climate, people and the slower moments an official programme cannot always accommodate.
That invitation stayed with me.
For a Malaysian observing another country’s development during Merdeka month, perhaps that might be worth bringing home too.
Merdeka is not only about remembering how far a nation has developed.
It can also be a moment to look outward, observe how others are moving forward, and ask what kind of progress we ourselves want.
Not simply what is newest or fastest, but what ultimately makes daily life better, while keeping the human part of it intact.
-- BERNAMA