In the northwest suburbs of Beijing, the 293-hectare Summer Palace wakes up early, wrapped in the morning mist. As soon as the glazed tiles of the Buddha Incense Pavilion caught the first ray of sunlight, many tourists gathered at the entrance of the Renshou Hall. A French girl hung an Yingmi wireless audio guide on her canvas bag. When she lowered her head to adjust her language, the tip of her hair swept over the carved window lattice. German architect Muller, clutching a notebook, was facing the audio guide and selecting the “Architecture Professional Channel”. Nowadays, guests who come here rarely have the noisy paper guide maps in their hands. Most of them wear these small devices and walk slowly towards the long corridor and Kunming Lake. The Yingmi self-service tour guide system has been installed, providing tourists with a deep experience of sightseeing.
I. The “Tour Guide Dilemma” of the Summer Palace: The Story of the Imperial Garden “Can’t Be Passed on”
Manager Wang from the operation department of the Summer Palace always sighs whenever he talks about the previous difficulties in guiding Tours: “We have over 20 key scenic spots, but our explanations can only cover both Chinese and English, and only focus on 10% of the core scenic spots.” Once, Professor Mark brought his students to study the Buddha Incense Pavilion and wanted to know “how the four eaves bear weight”. He found three staff members, but none of them knew German. In the end, they could only search for “three floors and four eaves” on their mobile phones. The students discussed around the screen for a long time, but still couldn’t figure it out. These predicaments are not accidental; they are the pain points that the Summer Palace has been suppressing for many years.
1.Multilingual gap: Overseas tourists “can’t understand” the stories of gardens
All kinds of overseas guests come to the Summer Palace: German scholars study architecture, Arab tourists are curious about royal history, and French students are obsessed with painting art. However, the demand for minor languages is all met by “translation software + gestures”. Last autumn, Salim wanted to know why Kunming Lake was in the shape of longevity peaches. The staff said in English, “it’s a symbol of longevity.” When he asked again, “For whom are longevity peaches prayed?”, he couldn’t answer. He later drew a longevity peach in the guestbook and wrote “want to know its meaning” beside it. Looking at that drawing, I really felt quite guilty. Xiao Li, who was in charge of the reception, said.
What’s even more embarrassing is the translation of professional terms – Professor Mark wanted to know the “meticulous brushwork technique” of corridor painting, but his mobile phone translated it as “fine brushwork”. The students had no idea at all which traditional Chinese painting technique this was. When they were leaving, they said, “Such a beautiful story, it’s like watching a pantomime.” I felt particularly uncomfortable hearing that. Manager Wang said.
2. “Missing Out” on independent travel: Traditional explanations hold back the pace
Overseas tourists visiting the Summer Palace all like to “grind slowly” : they spend 20 minutes looking at a painted painting in the long corridor, taking photos by the Kunming Lake, and want to skip the uninteresting scenic spots and head straight to the Buddha Incense Pavilion. However, in traditional group Tours, you have to follow a fixed route. The tour guide says, “Stop here for five minutes.” As soon as you understand the painted “Chang ‘e Flying to the Moon”, you are urged to go down.
A French old lady told me, “Joining a tour group is like catching a train. Just as I found the fun of painting the corridor, I was pulled to take a boat ride.” Xiao Li remembers very clearly that there was also a Japanese tourist who lost the group in order to take more photos of the Seventeen-Arch Bridge. In the end, he could only follow other guides and listen to fragmented content. “He said, ‘I originally wanted to experience the tranquility of the royal garden, but ended up looking for a group throughout the process.'” “
3. Noisy environment “inaudible” : Natural sounds drown out the explanations
The Summer Palace has many outdoor scenic spots. The wind by Kunming Lake, the sound of the engines of the cruise ships, and the conversations of tourists in the long corridors often drown out the explanations. I had tried using a small megaphone before. As soon as the guide opened his mouth, the tourists enjoying the view nearby frowned. Without a megaphone, people in the back row couldn’t hear clearly. Once, an American tourist wanted to hear about the principle of “nine water channels” of the Seventeen-Arch Bridge. The guide could only go close to his ear and say that the two were too close and were misunderstood by other tourists as having an argument. Manager Wang recalled this incident, feeling both amused and helpless. “What’s more troublesome is that the signal of the previous audio guide would be cut off outdoors. Just as I mentioned ‘bridge hole design can reduce water resistance’, the sound froze to ‘bridge hole design can…'” “Visitors can only guess the second half of the sentence ‘water obstruction’.”
4. The equipment is “not considerate” : complicated operation + short battery life
Previously, the park had used tour guide machines of other brands. The interfaces were all in Chinese, and overseas tourists spent a long time looking at the buttons but had no idea how to turn them on. The battery life is also poor. It runs out of power after only four hours. When tourists visit the Incense Pavilion, they can only ask the staff to replace the equipment. A Spanish tourist was halfway through his tour when the machine suddenly shut down. He held the device and asked everywhere, “where to charge.” Eventually, he had to give up and follow others. Xiao Li said.
Ii. Yingmi Self-Guided Tour System: A “Cultural Decoder” Customized for the Summer Palace
After learning about these troubles, we didn’t dare to use the “universal” equipment to make up the numbers. Every day, the team followed Xiao Li to record the tourist routes, watching everyone stay the longest at the Long Corridor, the Buddha Incense Pavilion, and Kunming Lake. They often asked about “painted stories”, “architectural craftsmanship”, and “historical background”, and even measured the signal coverage at the upper part of the Buddha Incense Pavilion several times. Finally, they brought out the self-service tour guide system. Every design is tailored to the needs of overseas tourists:
1.7 languages + professional content: Ensuring Every story is “flawless”
The system supports seven languages including Chinese, English, French, German, Arabic, Japanese and Spanish, precisely covering 93% of the overseas tourists’ needs at the Summer Palace. More importantly, the content of the explanation was not randomly translated. It was carefully selected sentence by sentence in collaboration with historical experts and senior translators from the Summer Palace.
When talking about the “Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea” painting in the corridor, The German version would say “Jeder der acht Unsterblichen nutzt ein einzigartiges Mittel – Li Tieguai mit seinem Krug” “Zhang Guolao mit seiner Faustel”, thoroughly explained the ritual implements and implications of each deity;
When it comes to the shape of the longevity peach in Kunming Lake, The French version would say “La forme du lac est un peche de longevite, symbole de Qianlong pour souhaiter la longevite a sa mere” (the lake resembles a longevity peach, It was a symbol of Emperor Qianlong’s blessing for his mother.
When Professor Mark brought the students back this spring, they listened to the explanations of the Incense Pavilion in German and from time to time drew structural diagrams in their notebooks. “Before, I could only guess, but now I can even understand how the eaves’ curvature can withstand the wind. It’s even better than the experience in the Berlin Museum!” ” Mark held Manager Wang’s hand and said.
2. Centimeter-level position sensing: “Automatically opens” when approaching scenic spots
Knowing that tourists prefer to wander freely, we have pasted invisible radio frequency tags beside each scenic spot. When tourists walk within 1 meter with the device, they don’t need to press any buttons, and the device will automatically trigger the explanation
– When you reach the “Three Battles Against the White Bone Demon” painting in the corridor, first softly prompt “Vous regardez maintenant la peinture ‘Xiyouji'” (what you are seeing now is the painting of “Journey to the West”), and then tell the story;
– Stopping by Kunming Lake, “Ce lac a ete cree pendant la dynastie Qing pour les loisirs de la famille imperiale” (this lake was used for leisure by the Qing royal family) will be introduced first. Let’s talk about the origin of the shape of the longevity peach.
Upon ascending the Buddha Incense Pavilion, you will automatically switch to the architectural theme and be explained the “Load-bearing principle of the four eaves”.
Salim strolled around Kunming Lake with the equipment, talking as he went and even told me, “It’s like there’s a dedicated Chinese guide following you.” Xiao Li smiled and said that the most surprising thing during the test was the “no cross-noise” – even if tourists walked between the corridor and the Paiyun Hall, the equipment would not trigger randomly and would not have to wait until they stood at the target scenic spot to speak.
3. High-fidelity noise reduction + 12-hour battery life: Enjoy a worry-free tour throughout the park
Considering the outdoor environment of the Summer Palace, the equipment is equipped with a custom noise-cancelling chip. The headphones are of high fidelity – they can filter out the sound of wind and boats, leaving only clear explanations. Last National Day during the peak season, Xiao Li was testing by Kunming Lake. When a cruise boat passed by, the story of “the meaning of the longevity peach” in the audio guide was still very clear. An American tourist said, “Before, in other scenic spots, the explanations were always blown away by the wind. This time, I can finally listen to the stories in peace.”
The battery life is also reliable. It uses temperature-resistant battery cells and can last for 12 hours in Beijing’s 10-25℃ weather, from 9 a.m. when the museum opens to 5 p.m. It weighs only 85 grams, even lighter than a mobile phone. Tourists can wear it around their necks for a whole day without feeling tired. Xiao Zhang, who is in charge of the equipment, said, “Previously, when we collected the machines every day, we had to plug in the wires one by one to charge them. Now, with our centralized charging box, we can charge 50 machines at a time. Just by looking at the LED lights, we can tell which one is fully charged. It saves us a lot of trouble.”
4. Easy operation: Overseas tourists can understand it at a glance
The interface has been fully optimized for English, with only three buttons: language switch, volume up and down, and pause. Even elderly tourists can get started. Salim used it for the first time and selected the Arabic mode in just two minutes. He smiled and said, “It’s even simpler than operating on my phone. There’s no need to find a translator.”
Iii. Changes after Application: The Story of Royal Gardens “Spreads Far and Wide”
The system has been in use in the Summer Palace for six months. The changes are not just empty talk; they are real feedback.
1.The stay time of overseas tourists has “doubled”
Previously, overseas tourists spent an average of two hours visiting and then left. Now, they can spend four hours – 50% of them will repeatedly listen to the explanations of the same scenic spot, such as first listening in English to understand the history and then in their native language to ponder the details. Manager Wang was flipping through the statistics and said, “There was a Spanish tourist who stayed for an extra three hours just to listen to the stories behind all the murals in the corridor. Before leaving, he said, ‘I’ll bring my family here next time.'”
2. Cultural Dissemination “Opens New Doors”
What surprised Manager Wang the most was that a person in charge of a French cultural institution, after listening to the explanation of the corridor paintings, specially contacted the Summer Palace, hoping to hold a “Chinese Imperial Painting Art Exhibition”. Spanish tourism companies also came to inquire, hoping to introduce this system to allow local tourists to learn about the culture of the Summer Palace in advance. In the past, our garden culture could only be “seen”, but now it can be “understood”. This is what a world cultural heritage should be like.
Iv. Yingmi’s “Globalization Confidence” : Allowing Overseas Users to “Use with Confidence”
Many overseas tourists ask Xiao Li, “Why is your equipment better to use than those in Europe?” The answer lies in our 15 years of accumulation:
1. International qualifications “no pitfalls”
We have long passed the European CE and ROHS certifications. Whether it is Europe, the Middle East or the Americas, our electronic equipment standards can all be met. A Dutch tourist was worried about whether the equipment could be used in his home country. We showed him the certification documents, and he immediately felt relieved: “With these certificates, there will definitely be no problem.”
2. Localized after-sales service is “never absent
We have set up an after-sales service point in Beijing, which is only a 30-minute drive from the Summer Palace. If there is any problem with the equipment, we can provide on-site service within one hour. They also offer 7× 24-hour Chinese and English customer service. Once, Salim sent an email at 1 a.m., saying, “I can’t switch to Arabic.” The customer service replied with an operation video within half an hour and marked the location of the Arabic button.
3. International cases are “backed”
We have provided guided Tours for the British Museum and Huawei’s overseas exhibition halls, and we are well aware of the habits of overseas users. Manager Wang chose us at the beginning because we had served the British Museum and knew “how to meet the needs of overseas tourists”. Manager Zhang in charge of overseas business said.
Conclusion: Let the story of the royal gardens be passed on across languages
In the evening at the Summer Palace, the setting sun was shining on the Seventeen-Arch Bridge. Professor Mark, wearing our tour guide, was looking at the last “Three Stars Shining” painting in the long corridor. The German voice from the guide gently wafted out. While listening, he was drawing the details of the painting in his notebook, his face full of satisfaction.
The Yingmi self-guided Tour System in the Summer Palace is not merely an “explanation tool”, but also a “cultural bridge” – enabling German scholars to understand the architectural wisdom of the Buddha Incense Pavilion, allowing Arab tourists to grasp the symbolic meaning of the longevity peaches in Kunming Lake, and allowing French students to understand the stories behind the murals in the Long Corridor. In the future, we will also add AR functions to allow tourists to “see” the scene of the Qing Dynasty royal family boating on Kunming Lake. Add Russian and Portuguese to enable more tourists from various regions to understand the story of the Summer Palace. After all, good cultural transmission should not have a language wall. What we want to do is to remove this wall and let the royal story of the Summer Palace clearly reach the ears of every tourist around the world. If you have such needs,Yingmi can help you.