China Tech
Inspiration

A journey to get inspired today by those building tomorrow.

2–15 Nov 2026 · Hong Kong · Shenzhen · Guangzhou · Hangzhou · Shanghai · Beijing

I want to go Why come

01 — Why come

See the future before it reaches your industry.

Eleven nights. Four cities. Eight working days. Humanoids in Shenzhen, the smart car in Guangzhou, quadruped robots in Hangzhou, frontier AI in Shanghai and Xiaomi’s car factory in Beijing.

01 See it before everyone else

Humanoid robots, electric cars and the hardware supply chain in their habitat. Not in a report: on the street, in the factory and at the table.

02 Learn from the people doing it

Conversations with teams operating at a scale that doesn’t exist in Europe. And with locals who know how it really works.

03 The group is half the trip

Founders and tech executives, chosen one by one. The best ideas will come up in the van and at dinner.

04 Zero friction

Non-stop flights, a single room in 4–5★ hotels, high-speed trains, guide and transfers. All you have to do is come.

02 — Companies

Eleven companies. From the inside.

Humanoid and quadruped robots, drones, the smart electric car, AI models competing with Silicon Valley and one of the most automated car factories in the world. With the people who make them.

Shenzhen

  • UBTECH

    Humanoid robots

  • Astribot

    AI humanoids

  • DJI

    Drones & cameras

Guangzhou

  • XPeng

    Smart electric vehicles

Hangzhou

  • DEEP Robotics

    Quadruped robots

Shanghai & Kunshan

  • Kepler

    Industrial humanoids

  • Gestamp

    Automotive · China plant

  • Alibaba Cloud

    Cloud & AI

  • MiniMax

    Generative AI models

  • Huawei

    R&D · telecoms & AI

Beijing

  • Xiaomi Auto

    EV factory

And on our own: Huaqiangbei, NIO House, the Tesla Giga Museum and robotaxis.

And a few more in the works.

03 — Route

Four cities. From the south that builds to the north that decides.

We land in Hong Kong and cross to Shenzhen the next morning. From there, a flight to Shanghai, a day in Hangzhou and high-speed rail to Beijing. A van with a driver and zero wasted time.

CHINA EAST CHINA SEA ✈ MAD → HKG · non-stop ✈ SZX → SHA 🚄 high-speed rail ✈ PEK → MAD Guangzhou DAY TRIP · 6 NOV HONG KONG · 1 NIGHT · 3 NOV Shenzhen 3 NIGHTS · 4–6 Hangzhou DAY TRIP · 9 NOV Shanghai 4 NIGHTS · 7–10 Beijing 3 NIGHTS · 11–13
1nightHong Kong
3nightsShenzhen
4nightsShanghai
3nightsBeijing

Madrid → Hong Kong and Beijing → Madrid, both non-stop. Inside, a day trip to Guangzhou, a Shenzhen–Shanghai flight, a same-day train to Hangzhou and back, and high-speed rail Shanghai–Beijing.

Hong Kong
Shenzhen
Hangzhou
Shanghai
Beijing

04 — Itinerary

Fourteen days. No rush.

An agenda designed to inspire you, teach you and let you enjoy it, without the rush. Preliminary plan: company visits are being confirmed.

MonMadrid

Departure.

Non-stop flight to Hong Kong.

TueHong Kong

We arrive.

Afternoon landing. Dinner and a harbour walk. Night in Hong Kong.

Wed→ Shenzhen

We cross.

Morning crossing to Shenzhen. Afternoon meeting with an AI/software founder.

ThuShenzhen

UBTECH and Astribot.

Two humanoid robot makers in one day: demos and conversation with the teams.

FriGuangzhou

XPeng.

Day trip from Shenzhen to the home of the smart electric car. Back to Shenzhen for the night.

Sat→ Shanghai

Huaqiangbei.

The world’s largest electronics market, with a hardware expert. Afternoon flight to Shanghai.

SunShanghai

Cars that drive themselves.

NIO House, Tesla Giga Museum and a robotaxi ride. The Bund at sunset.

MonHangzhou · Shanghai

DEEP Robotics and Kepler.

Day trip by train to Hangzhou: quadruped robots already at work in industry. Back in Shanghai in the afternoon, Kepler’s industrial humanoids.

TueShanghai

Gestamp and Alibaba Cloud.

Morning at Gestamp’s plant in Kunshan. Afternoon: cloud and AI with Alibaba Cloud.

Wed→ Beijing

MiniMax and the high-speed train.

Generative AI in Shanghai in the morning. High-speed rail to Beijing in the afternoon.

ThuBeijing

Xiaomi Auto.

Inside Xiaomi’s electric car factory. Hutongs in the afternoon.

FriBeijing

AI in Zhongguancun.

Meeting with an AI founder. Closing dinner.

SatBeijing

Great Wall.

Mutianyu in the morning. Flight home in the afternoon.

SunMadrid

Arrival.

Home by the morning.

05 — The dates

The dates are no accident.

Canton Fair

Closes on 4 November. We enter Shenzhen right after, as the city decompresses.

Shanghai CIIE

Runs 5–10 November. We are in Shanghai those days, with the whole Chinese business ecosystem in town.

Singles’ Day

It’s 11 November. Hangzhou is Alibaba’s home and nobody will see you those days. That’s why our Hangzhou day is Monday the 9th.

Beijing

The heating comes on on the 15th. We are there before: it’s cold, but the air is still good.

06 — Culture

Not just factories. China, too.

Understanding how they build starts with understanding how they live. Every city gets its afternoon, its table and its walk.

Hong Kong

The gateway. The view from the Peak, the Star Ferry at dusk and proper dim sum. Where East and West shake hands and order more tea.

Shenzhen

A fishing village in 1980. Today, the hardware capital of the world. Huaqiangbei: ten blocks of electronics where you could build a phone in an afternoon.

Hangzhou

West Lake, a thousand years of poets and hand-picked Longjing tea. Marco Polo called it the most beautiful city in the world. He wasn’t far off.

Shanghai

The Bund on one side, Pudong on the other: a hundred years of history split by a river. The city that looks to the future without letting go of the past.

Beijing

The Forbidden City, the hutongs and the Great Wall at Mutianyu. Peking duck for the closing dinner. Six centuries as capital and not a minute of pause.

07 — The group

The trip is the people. That’s why we choose.

A small group, and not open to everyone. Every application is reviewed. We are looking for experienced founders and senior executives at large tech companies, and above all good people who want to learn, get inspired and have a good time. Half the value of the trip is who you travel with.

This is not a tour. Every participant arrives with a door they can open, and the group shares them.

Application

Apply for a seat. We reply within 48 hours.

Tell us who you are, what you build or run and why you want to come. We review every application so the group makes sense. No forms, no newsletters.

Seats by application. We reply within 48 hours.

I want to go