Boats, oars and mechanical arms: humanoid robots master dragon boat racing and zongzi making
Two weeks of training, synchronisation with humans, full stop of human paddling — and the boat kept moving. Beijing's "Tiangong" robots not only mastered rowing but also learned to pound sticky rice into ciba and make zongzi. The 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games begin in August.
As reported by CCTV+, this year's Dragon Boat Festival saw tradition meet innovation in Sichuan Province, southwest China: humanoid robots from Beijing not only rowed alongside human paddlers but also learned to make sticky rice cakes and dumplings, bringing fresh enthusiasm and new elements to the traditional holiday. The "Energy Relay" for the upcoming 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games made its second stop in Bazhong, Sichuan, where robots left the lab and entered real festive scenes.
At the Enyang Dragon Boat Sports Park in Bazhong, a human-robot collaborative boat carried two "Tiangong" robots from the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, along with six young local paddlers. The robot athletes underwent more than two weeks of adaptive training — first on Beijing's Shichahai Lake, then on the rivers of Bazhong — learning to synchronise their mechanical movements with the rhythms of human teamwork. At first, the robots looked a bit clumsy, but after several rounds of fine‑tuning, their oar control became increasingly refined, and coordination with the crew improved significantly.
To truly test their capabilities, the human paddlers completely stopped rowing and let the robots take over. The boat kept moving forward — slowly but steadily. Dragon boat rowing requires a continuous, fast sequence of lifting, dipping, pulling and releasing the oar. Engineers optimised the robots' waist movements, making them much more human‑like and fluid.
Using similar principles, the robots also took part in the traditional activity of pounding sticky rice into ciba cakes — a true test of dynamic balance and resistance to external forces. The robots even tried their hand at making zongzi, the iconic sticky rice dumplings. They deftly washed rice and prepared ingredients, and while soaking and handling materials, they achieved a significant breakthrough in water resistance. This is a small step pointing to a much larger future: household robots capable of working safely and efficiently in kitchens, bathrooms and other wet environments.
The World Humanoid Robot Games — the first international sports event dedicated exclusively to humanoid robots — will take place from August 22 to 26 in Beijing. The competition, featuring more than 30 events, will showcase the latest advances in embodied intelligence and precision manipulation capabilities.
The Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu) is one of China's oldest traditional holidays, celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It honours the ancient poet Qu Yuan and features dragon boat races and zongzi making. The World Humanoid Robot Games are a new international competition to be held in Beijing in August 2026. The "Tiangong" robots are a development of the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center. Their participation in traditional festival rituals shows how technology is entering everyday life and cultural practices.
When a robot takes an oar and synchronises with humans, then switches to making rice dumplings, the line between machine and tradition blurs. The Dragon Boat Festival has always been a symbol of human unity. Today, mechanisms are joining that unity — learning to feel rhythm, balance, and even the texture of food. This is not just entertainment; it is a glimpse of a future where technology does not replace culture but becomes part of it. And when robots compete in more than 30 disciplines at the World Games, we will witness not just a race of machines, but a new stage of interaction between humans and intelligence — one that knows no boundaries between lab and life.
