Ancient Yunnan embraces facial recognition, social media to boost tourism industry

The Yunnan government has made

Yunnan, the ancient province in southwestern China famous for hand-picked tea, snow-capped mountains and the mystical hidden paradise of Shangri-La, is undergoing a digital makeover.

Facial recognition is deployed at the gates of tourist attractions to facilitate faster entry and sensors are installed along highways for instant toll payments without the need for drivers to slow down or stop. Tourists can skip the queues by buying tickets online, watch live videos of crowds at sites to better plan their trip, or find the nearest available restrooms, all through a smartphone app for tourists co-developed by Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings.