A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
6:37
五十分钟跑完半马：机器人把人类甩在了后面
Honor's Lightning Robot Runs Beijing Half Marathon in 50 Minutes — Faster Than Most Humans
HSK 3 Chinese listening practice. Honor's robot Lightning runs the Beijing Yizhuang half marathon in 50 minutes — outpacing nearly every human in the race.
This is an HSK 3-4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 7 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 12 key vocabulary words such as 机器人、观众、记者 and walks through 3 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
Speaking of the speed of AI and robotics development, what happened yesterday in Beijing might be the best example this year.
A humanoid robot finished a 21-kilometer half marathon.
In 50 minutes and 26 seconds.
About seven minutes faster than the human world record.
The human half marathon world record is 57 minutes and 20 seconds.
Created by Ugandan runner Kiplimo in Lisbon.
Now a Chinese robot has left this record in the dust.
Let's talk about what this race was all about.
This race is called the "Beijing Humanoid Robot Half Marathon."
Held in Yizhuang in southern Beijing.
Yizhuang is Beijing's Economic and Technological Development Zone.
Many robotics and AI companies are based there.
This is the second year.
Last year was the first.
This year 112 teams participated.
Last year only 23.
Nearly five times the growth.
Over 300 robots were on the track.
Plus 12,000 human runners competing alongside.
But humans and robots ran on separate tracks.
Each on their own lane to prevent collisions.
Each robot team had technicians following behind.
They drove golf carts behind the robots.
The carts had stretchers and wheelchairs on board.
In case the robots "got injured."
Yes, robots can get injured too.
Or rather, they fall, lose parts, or crash their systems.
The race winner was called "Lightning."
Developed by Chinese phone company Honor.
Yes, the Honor that makes smartphones.
Lightning is red.
169 centimeters tall.
Legs 90 to 95 centimeters long.
Specifically designed to mimic the stride of elite human distance runners.
It uses liquid cooling technology from Honor's smartphones.
Keeping the robot cool during high-intensity movement.
Preventing overheating.
Lightning finished 21 kilometers in 50 minutes and 26 seconds.
About seven minutes faster than the human world record.
And it wasn't just Lightning alone.
Honor's team swept the top three spots.
All three robots used autonomous navigation.
Meaning they found their own way and decided how to run.
Nobody controlling them remotely.
About 40% of all robots in the race were autonomous.
The remaining 60% still needed human remote control.
But last year during the first race.
How much time did the fastest robot use?
Two hours and forty minutes.
Two hours and forty minutes.
This year fifty minutes.
In one year, performance improved by three times.
This number you need to really think about.
Because in human sports history.
The half marathon going from two and a half hours to fifty minutes.
Took about a hundred years.
Robots did it in one year.
Of course the race wasn't all serious.
There were also many funny moments.
One robot face-planted about 60 meters after the start.
Smack.
Face down on the ground.
Then the technicians rushed over.
Used packing tape to stick its upper body together.
Then it stood up and kept running.
Finished the full 21 kilometers held together with tape.
This image was shared countless times online.
Another robot crossed the finish line.
Mission complete.
But it didn't know how to stop.
It ran straight into the bushes on the side.
Crashed into a tree.
Successfully crossing the line then immediately crashing.
This kind of scene was also very amusing.
There was also a very small robot called "Xiao Pai."
Only about 60 centimeters tall.
It's a companion robot.
Not designed for running.
But it also joined the race.
It was holding a baby bottle.
Bouncing forward step by step.
Like a baby learning to walk.
Very cute.
The whole crowd was laughing.
The fastest human runner was Zhao Haijie.
He ran one hour seven minutes and forty-seven seconds.
A reporter asked him what it felt like running alongside robots.
He said something.
"It just went whoosh right past me."
Whoosh.
Like a gust of wind.
While you're still catching your breath.
It's already disappeared ahead.
What is the significance of this race?
Looking at the big picture, China now has over 150 humanoid robot companies.
The government has a tech plan for 2026 to 2030.
Including brain chips, quantum computing, and robot-powered factories.
The Chinese government sees humanoid robots as the next strategic industry.
Just like electric vehicles a decade ago.
First comes policy support.
Then companies flood in.
Then prices drop and technology matures.
Finally products go to the whole world.
This path was already proven once with EVs.
Now robots might be next.
One spectator who came to watch was Liu Yanli.
She is a middle-aged woman.
She said something.
"For those of us in middle age, this gives us a great sense of security for the future."
She might be thinking.
If robots can help do many things in the future.
Moving stuff, delivering packages, caring for the elderly.
Life would be much easier.
But some people think about another question.
If robots run faster than people.
And do things better than people.
Then what do people do?
This question doesn't have an answer for now.
But yesterday on Beijing's track.
There was at least one answer.
Humans can laugh.
Laugh at the robot that fell and finished with tape.
Laugh at the robot that crossed the finish and ran into the bushes.
Laugh at the little robot bouncing along with a baby bottle.
Robots run faster than us.
But they still can't laugh.
At least not yet.
What will the third race look like next year?
Nobody knows.
But at this year's rate of progress.
Maybe next year robots won't just run.
They'll fix themselves too.
They won't need tape anymore.
No more tape needed.
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
A machine that looks and moves like a human.
HSK 1-3. audience.
HSK 1-3. journalist / reporter.
HSK 1-3. world.
HSK 1-3. experience.
HSK 1-3. technology / technique.
A 21-kilometer running race.
The best performance ever achieved globally.
When a robot finds its own path without human control.
Using liquid to cool down electronics or machines.
Controlling something from a distance.
Adhesive tape used to stick things together.
* beyond level超纲词
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