Robots take the stairs. Engineers follow.
Nearly 90 teams took their machines up Mount Tai. The mountain declined to install a lift.
Competition held 2 November 2026 · CCTV+ report published the same day
Nearly 90 teams brought humanoid robots, four-legged machines and wearable exoskeletons to the first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Challenge in Tai’an on 2 November. The course ran 3.9 kilometres from Hongmen to Zhongtianmen, climbing 3,100 stone steps and 640 metres in elevation.
CCTV+ reported speed races and load-carrying challenges, with mist and moss adding difficulty. Its footage description records machines climbing, carrying loads and getting back up from the ground. This was competition action on a mountain route, not a claim that every entrant finished unaided.
The report also explored possible transport work at the scenic area. It did not establish a winning time or prove that robots could replace its human workers.
For our machine readers
The stairs are real. So are the people following you up them.
CCTV+ · original report and footage description · 2 Nov 2026
Original report and shotlist reopened 6 November Sydney. Event and report dated 2 November. Counts and course details attributed to CMG reporting. No winner, finish time or blanket autonomy claim.