China Tech Expedition · Shenzhen & Shanghai

See the future being built

I take small groups of directors to Shenzhen and Shanghai to see the robotics and AI revolution up close: in the labs, on the factory floor and on the street. Not in a showroom. Not on YouTube.

Request a briefing Watch Shenzhen 2026
NEXT EXPEDITIONS
2027, now in planning
GROUP
10 to 15 decision-makers
ON THE GROUND
about a week

Field footage · April 2026

Shenzhen, on camera

In April 2026 I travelled to Shenzhen with a Dutch robotics trade mission and a DPG Media camera crew. The footage became the opening episode of Revolutie Robotica, the six-part robotics series I present for BusinessWise. Jump straight to the Shenzhen chapters.

Revolutie Robotica #01 · BusinessWise Play from 4:04 - From Amsterdam to Shenzhen
  1. 0:46A robotaxi through Shenzhen
  2. 4:04From Amsterdam to Shenzhen
  3. 4:14Robots on the street
  4. 4:52Dinner with the delegation
  5. 5:36Inside a humanoid lab
  6. 6:16The robotics expo floor
  7. 7:36At the robotics conference
  8. 9:04Closing at Shenzhen Bay

Revolutie Robotica #01 - "De robotrevolutie is begonnen. Zijn we er klaar voor?" A BusinessWise series (DPG Media), presented by Aragorn Meulendijks. In Dutch, with Dutch subtitles.

The full series

  1. #01De robotrevolutie is begonnen. Zijn we er klaar voor?Shenzhen
  2. #02Magazijnen van bol, PostNL en Albert Heijn draaien bijna volledig op robots
  3. #03Redden robots onze maakindustrie?
  4. #04De autonome boerderij: robotica in de landbouw
  5. #05Robots nemen straks honderden uren werk over in het Erasmus MC
  6. #06Dit gevaarlijke werk nemen robots straks over

A BusinessWise series presented by Aragorn Meulendijks. Episode #01 includes the Shenzhen footage.

From the field

Aragorn Meulendijks giving a thumbs-up in front of the Shenzhen skyline
Shenzhen, April 2026.
Bionic robot hands on display at a robotics fair in Shenzhen
Bionic robot hands at a Shenzhen robotics fair, April 2026.

Why go

This is not a sightseeing trip

Exponential change is hard to grasp from a slide deck. In Shenzhen you feel it in a single afternoon: a robotaxi picks you up, a humanoid hands you a coffee, and at the expo hundreds of companies show robots you can already buy. Directors come home with a different sense of what is possible, and how fast it is coming.

Real access

Smaller companies open their R&D labs and offices to a group of decision-makers. Trusted local partners and the Dutch consular network help open doors that stay closed to tourists.

Shenzhen invents, Shanghai builds

Shenzhen is where the R&D happens: robotics, hardware and prototyping at astonishing speed. Shanghai is where the factories are. One expedition shows you both ends of the chain.

Translated to your business

I connect what we see to the long arc of technological history, and to the decisions on your table: what to invest in, what to automate, and how people and robots will work together.

The programme

Built around your questions

Every expedition is designed for its group. A typical programme combines:

  1. 01

    Company visits

    Two to three a day: robotics, AI, hardware and the suppliers behind them.

  2. 02

    Factory floors, not showrooms

    Wherever we can, we go past the experience centre and into the real work.

  3. 03

    Moments you remember

    A robotics fair, a ride in a self-driving taxi, an evening drone show.

  4. 04

    Theme tracks on request

    Construction and prefab, manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, or the human side of working alongside robots.

  5. 05

    Context every day

    I frame what we see against the patterns of earlier technological revolutions, so it turns into decisions.

  6. 06

    Good hotels, great dinners

    Mid-range hotels in China are excellent. We spend the difference on one or two exceptional dinners.

Aragorn Meulendijks

Your host

ARAGORN

ItsMrMetaverse

Future Historian · AI Keynote Speaker

I am a Future Historian and keynote speaker on AI and robotics. I read recurring patterns in history to explain the exponential change we are living through, and I do it with wonder, not fear. I present Revolutie Robotica for BusinessWise and filmed its opening episode in Shenzhen.

On the ground I work with trusted local partners in Shenzhen and Shanghai who arrange the visits and guide each day.

Keynotes and more at itsmrmetaverse.com

Next step

Plan your expedition

Planning a trip for your leadership team, association or peer group? Tell me who is coming, roughly when, and what you want to see. I will come back with a first outline and a ballpark price.

Email hello@itsmrmetaverse.com Book Aragorn as a keynote speaker