The ancient city of Tianshui, located in the southeast of Gansu Province, is a thousand-year-old important town on the Silk Road. The streets and alleys paved with bluestone slabs wind their way, and the old brick and wood houses from the Ming and Qing dynasties are scattered here and there. The imprint of Fuxi culture is hidden in every brick carving and door lintel. Every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists come here to trace the cultural heritage of the “Hometown of Xi Huang” and experience the unique charm of the ancient city in the northwest. Just before April 2025, tourists who came here often said they were “confused” : if they wanted to learn about the history of the old house, they had to wait for a human tour guide to be scheduled. Foreign tourists stared at the plaque of “Fuxi Temple” for a long time but still couldn’t figure out the meaning of the name. The elderly person who was walking in the group was just about to understand the meaning of the brick carvings when the group was already urging him to go to the next stop. It was not until the Yingmi M7 neckle-mounted automatic sensor tour guide device was launched that all these troubles were solved. Now, tourists can wear the lightweight tour guide machine and hear wherever they go. The stories of the ancient city flow along with the explanations, and the thousand-year-old cultural heritage comes alive.
I. The “old problem” of guiding Tours in Tianshui Ancient City: The good charm cannot be passed on to the heart
Tianshui Ancient Town is no ordinary tourist attraction. Its charm lies in the “slow stroll and careful appreciation” – the origin of an alley, the owner of an old house, and the meaning of a brick carving all need to be listened to slowly and observed carefully. However, the traditional way of guiding Tours has deliberately “hidden” these precious cultural details, leaving tourists “seeing the excitement but not understanding the essence”.
1. Manual explanations are “not enough”, and during peak season, people have to wait in line for half a day
There are 12 core visiting points in Tianshui Ancient City: Fuxi Temple, Hu Family Ancient Residences, Wenchang Pavilion, North and South Houses, etc. Each point requires a detailed explanation of its historical background and cultural connotation. During the peak tourist season, the daily reception capacity can exceed 8,000 people, but the scenic area only has 15 full-time tour guides, who can lead at most 5 groups a day. Most tourists can only “wander around aimlessly” on their own.
Sister Li, who was in charge of the reception, remembers it very clearly: “Last May Day, a family brought their elderly to the Fuxi Temple, hoping to hear the legend of ‘Fuxi drawing the Hexagrams’. They queued for an hour before getting the explanation. The elderly man’s legs were so sore from standing that he had to catch a bus again before finishing. Before leaving, he said,’ Such a wonderful story. It’s such a pity not to hear it all. ‘” ” What’s even more frustrating is the temporary visitors. Without making an appointment in advance, they can’t find a guide and can only take pictures of the ancient buildings. They don’t even know the meaning of the brick carvings in the Hu Family Ancient Residences.
2. Explaining “incoherence”, cultural memory is fragmented
The streets and alleys in the ancient city are mostly laid out in a “spider web” style. When tourists follow the tour guides, they often have to turn from one alley to another. Traditional explanations either rely on the guides manually switching equipment or start over after reaching new scenic spots. For instance, when walking from “Hu Family Ancient Residence” to “Wenchang Pavilion”, the guide has to turn off the equipment at the previous point first and then turn on the new one. There is always a “gap” in between. Sometimes, when the equipment is not properly adjusted, tourists are still listening to the content about the ancient dwellings when they reach the Wenchang Pavilion, leaving them completely confused.
Once when I was leading a student group on a visit, when we reached the wooden carvings in front of the “North and South Houses”, the equipment was still telling the history of the Hu family. The students asked, “Teacher, why are you still talking about the old Hu family?” Sister Li could only awkwardly apologize for the debugging. “Originally, the history of the ancient city was continuous. With such a break, children simply can’t remember the cause and effect before and after, let alone understand the cultural connotations.” “
3. Multilingual “bottleneck”, overseas visitors understand the scenery but not the “history”
With the internationalization of Tianshui’s cultural tourism, the number of overseas visitors to the ancient city has been increasing year by year. The proportion of tourists from Japan, South Korea, Europe and America has reached 12%. Traditional guided Tours can only provide basic Chinese and English manuals. Manual multilingual explanations need to be reserved three days in advance and only cover English and Japanese. Many overseas tourists, gazing at the plaque of the “Fuxi Temple”, were left sighing and wanting to learn about the influence of Fuxi culture on traditional Chinese culture. However, due to the language barrier, they could only take photos and leave.
There was once a French couple who lingered for a long time in front of the brick carvings in the Hu family Ancient Residence. They struggled to find out the meaning of “Fu Lu Shou” with translation software. Eventually, the staff gave a rough explanation in simple English. Although the couple nodded in gratitude, their eyes couldn’t hide their regret. “We want overseas tourists to understand the thousand-year-old cultural heritage of Tianshui, but due to the language barrier, no matter how good the story is, it cannot be passed on.” ” Old Chen, the operation supervisor of the ancient city, said helplessly.
II.?Yingmi M7: Breaking the Deadlock with “Smart Sensing” to Make Ancient City Explanations More engaging
After learning about the pain points of Tianshui Ancient City, Yingmi did not simply promote general equipment. Instead, she sent a technical team to stay on-site for five days: following tourists throughout the entire journey and recording the frequently asked questions. Test the signal at each core scenic spot (especially in areas with weak signals such as deep alleys and inside old houses); After analyzing the multilingual demands, a solution centered on the?M7 neckle-mounted automatic sensing tour guide system?was finally customized – from “automatic triggering” to “multilingual adaptation”, every function precisely meets the demands of the ancient city’s cultural tourism.
1. RFID automatic sensing: Just talk as you go, no need to press by hand
The most surprising feature of the M7 for tourists is its “seamless trigger” function – it adopts advanced RFID modulation technology. The technical team has installed signal transmitters in 12 core scenic spots and 20 characteristic alleys in Tianshui Ancient City. When tourists wear the tour guide device and approach within a range of 0.5 to 40 meters, the device will automatically identify the position and start the explanation without any manual operation.
When you reach the “Xian Tian Hall” of the Fuxi Temple, the?tour guide?automatically sounds: “The Xian Tian Hall you see now is the core building of the Fuxi temple. The statue of Fuxi enshrined inside is 3 meters high and holds?the picture of?bagua. It is said that Fuxi observed the celestial phenomena and examined the geography here, created the eight trigrams, and initiated the origin of Chinese civilization…” ; Entering the “Five Blessings Hall” of the Hu Family Ancient Residence, the explanation switches to: “The brick carvings in this room are truly unique. The pattern of ‘Five Blessings Arrive at the Door’ on the lintel corresponds respectively to longevity, wealth, health, virtue and goodness, which is a typical cultural symbol of the northwest residences during the Ming and Qing Dynasties…”
To adapt to the complex environment of the ancient city, the technical team has also optimized the signal transmitter: it supports 16 signal strength level adjustments, and the sensing is accurate even in the deep alleys and dark corners of old houses. The transmitter weighs only 27 grams and is about the size of a palm. It can be placed beside a scenic spot sign without looking out of place. It is also powered by a lithium battery and can last for 12 months on a single charge, eliminating the need for frequent replacement and saving a lot of trouble. Sister Li said, “Nowadays, tourists can just explore on their own. The tour guide machines follow the steps and explain. Both the elderly and children can use them. No one asks’ How to switch the content ‘anymore.”
2. Multiple languages + 9,999 pre-stored segments: Overseas visitors can also understand the cultural heritage of the ancient city
In response to internationalization demands, Yingmi has customized 8 languages (English, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, German, Russian, and Arabic) for the M7 system, and also supports pre-storing 9,999 segments of explanation content. The explanations for each language are refined by professional interpreters in combination with the cognitive habits of overseas audiences. For instance, when explaining the “Fuxi Eight Trigrams” to European and American tourists, they would add, “This ancient symbol system, similar to the Western theory of astrology, is an early exploration of the laws of the universe by humans,” to help them understand quickly. When introducing the “Hu Family Ancient Residences” to Japanese and South Korean tourists, the Japanese version will compare “the similarities and differences between the machiya architecture in Kyoto, Japan and the residences in northwest China”, evoking cultural resonance.
The tour guide machine also supports “one-click language switching”, accompanied by a language prompt tone. Tourists can switch from Chinese to the desired language by pressing the “language key” on the body. Pierre, a tourist from France, after listening to the explanation of the Fuxi Temple in French, specially found the staff and said, “In the past, when I came to ancient Chinese cities, I could only see the architecture. This time, I can understand the story of ‘Fuxi drawing the Hexagrams’ and also learn about its influence on the I Ching. This experience is so precious.”
Now, the complaint rate of overseas tourists to Tianshui Ancient City has dropped from 35% to 6%. Many foreign tourists have shared their experiences of “visiting Tianshui Ancient City with M7 listening to explanations” on social media platforms, which has attracted more international exchange teams to the scenic area.
3. Long battery life + anti-interference: Clear listening even when there are many people, and the device can be used all day long without shutting down
The streets and alleys of Tianshui Ancient City are narrow. During peak season, there are a large number of tourists, and traditional equipment is prone to “crosstalk”. The M7 adopts a 2.4GHz high-frequency signal and is combined with digital coding area recognition technology, which can effectively resist interference from mobile phones and other electronic devices. Even if dozens of people are visiting in the same alley at the same time, each person’s guide device can clearly play the corresponding content without mixing sounds.
The battery life of the device is also very impressive: it is equipped with an 800mAh lithium battery, which can work continuously for up to 16 hours, providing a longer standby time, which is more than enough for tourists to “wander from morning till night”. Once, Mr. Wang, a tourist, visited from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. His tour guide still had 30% battery left and didn’t need to be charged in the middle. Mr. Wang said, “I was originally worried that the equipment would run out of power, but I didn’t expect it to work after a whole day of browsing. I also listened to the brick carving explanation three times in the middle. It was very convenient.”
The tour guide machine weighs only 50 grams and adopts a neck-hanging design. Wearing it around the neck is like carrying a light little accessory, and you won’t feel tired even after a whole day of browsing. The body of the machine is made of wear-resistant material. Even if it occasionally touches the wall or door frame, it is not easy to be damaged. The scenic area has used it for half a year and has not experienced a single malfunction.
Iii. Implementation Achievements: New Changes in Cultural Tourism in Tianshui Ancient City
The Yingmi M7 self-service tour guide equipment?has been in place in Tianshui Ancient Town for half a year. It has brought about not only a change in the “way of explanation”, but also a leap in the “effect of cultural dissemination”. These changes are hidden in the feedback of tourists and also written in the operation data of the scenic area.
1. Tourists’ experiences progress from “shallow to deep”, leaving a more profound cultural memory
The scenic area conducted a survey: Among the tourists who used the M7 to listen to the explanations, the proportion of those who could retell knowledge points such as “the cultural connotation of Fuxi” and “the meaning of brick carvings in Hu Family Ancient Residences” was 55% higher than that of traditional explanations. The average stay time of tourists has been extended from 2 hours to 3.8 hours, and the proportion of tourists who have “in-depth visits” (covering more than 8 scenic spots) has increased from 38% to 78%.
An old tourist gave feedback: “When I visited in a tour group before, I didn’t catch many details clearly. This time, using the tour guide, I listened slowly to the story of ‘Fuxi drawing the Hexagrams’, and only then did I realize that Tianshui is one of the sources of Chinese civilization. This understanding is much deeper than looking at the text cards.” ” The feedback from the student group was also very good. The children, wearing tour guides, would actively ask, “What do the patterns on the brick carvings mean?” After the tour, they could also share the stories of the ancient city with their teachers.
2. The operation and management have been “simplified from complex”, reducing costs by 45%
On the operational side, M7 has significantly enhanced the efficiency of the tour guide management in Tianshui Ancient City: there is no need to arrange staff to coordinate teams for “off-peak visits”, the demand for manual explanations has been reduced by 45%, and the scenic area can also focus more on cultural exploration. The equipment is easy to maintain. The signal transmitter needs to have its battery replaced once a year. The tour guide machine uses a “one charger for ten chargers”, and all ten devices can be fully charged in one hour without the need for dedicated supervision.
“Before, during peak seasons, we had to hire temporary tour guides, which cost several thousand yuan a day. Now, that’s not necessary.” ” Old Chen did the calculation. Over the past six months, he has saved nearly 30,000 yuan on the cost of guided Tours. The saved money can also be used for the “Compilation of Ancient City Stories”. Currently, 40 new explanations on “The Origin of the Alleys” and “the History of the Old Houses” have been added.
Conclusion: Let the stories of the ancient city be heard and remembered by more people
Nowadays, when visiting the ancient city of Tianshui, one can often see such a scene: tourists are hanging M7 audio guides and quietly listening to the legend of “drawing the Hexagrams” in front of the Fuxi Temple. Overseas tourists listened to the English explanations while taking pictures of the brick carvings in the Hu Family Ancient Residence. The children surrounded the wooden Windows of the old house and followed the explanations to identify the “Five Blessings” patterns. On the bluestone pavement, the voices of explanations and the exclamations of tourists interwove, creating the most distinctive “sound landscape” of this thousand-year-old ancient city.
Yingmi has always believed that good self-guided tour equipment should not be a “cold machine”, but a “megaphone of culture” – helping ancient cities tell their thousand-year-old stories clearly and helping tourists remember their cultural memories deeply. In the future, Yingmi will continue to optimize the functions of M7, such as adding AR interaction (allowing tourists to scan the code to see the “life scenes of the ancient city during the Ming and Qing Dynasties”), and expanding more minor languages, so that more people around the world can understand the cultural heritage of Tianshui Ancient City, and let the charm of this thousand-year-old Silk Road town spread throughout the world through the explanations.
Whether it’s the Fuxi Temple in Tianshui Ancient City or historical scenic spots and museums overseas, Yingmi?hopes to use smart devices like the M7 to ensure that every precious cultural memory can be clearly conveyed and remembered for a long time, and to rejuvenate ancient civilizations with the help of technology.