Beijing, China - Recent (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of diners playing game in waiting area of Haidilao restaurant
2. Various of lighted ceiling
3. Various of robot waiters delivering food
4. Various of diners ordering meals on iPad
5. Various of robots working
6. Diners watching
7. Various of Zhu Mengyi, head of new tech innovation center, Haidilao, introducing smart restaurant system to reporter
8. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhu Mengyi, head of new tech innovation center, Haidilao (partially overlaid with shots 9-10):
"Back in 2016, we conducted a lot of research into smart restaurants in Europe and Japan. But we found there was very little to refer to. The restaurants had some smart technology, but not for the whole system. That's why we had to take it on our own. We had no other option."
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
9. Dining room
10. Zhu introducing smart restaurant to reporter
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
11. Various of waiters, chef, robot working in kitchen
12. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhu Mengyi, head of new tech innovation center, Haidilao:
"We tried a partially automated kitchen by giving some mechanical work to robots, so as to reduce labor intensity and labor force."
13. Waiter working
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Diner (name not given):
"I have never heard of the smart restaurant in [South] Korea before. But I've been here, it's [my] first experience."
15. Various of diners
16. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Diner (name not given):
"It's interesting to see the robots delivering the food. The only downside is that robots cannot interact with diners, and its service is quite simplex. And traditional waiters have to take care of both customers and these robots, even when there are so many diners. So it adds to their workload."
17. Various of robot delivering food, diners
18. Various of noodle chef making noodles, putting it in hotpot

The first-ever fully automated hotpot restaurant with robot chefs and waiters has opened to the public in Beijing, China's capital.

Haidilao, a famous Chinese hotpot chain, has teamed up with Japanese technology giant Panasonic to open a restaurant where robots take orders, prepare, and deliver the dishes.

In the dining hall, six humanoid robots can be seen moving back and forth between the kitchen and the eating area.

Once diners have put in their orders, it takes the robots less than 10 minutes to deliver the dishes.

The only time a human staff will step in is when the robots are too busy, or when certain specific dishes with ice are requested.

As one of the co-founders, Zhu Mengyi said it was quite a challenge getting the concept off the ground.

"Back in 2016, we conducted a lot of research into smart restaurants in Europe and Japan. But we found there was very little to refer to. The restaurants had some smart technology, but not for the whole system. That's why we had to take it on our own. We had no other option," said Zhu, head of the new tech innovation center of Haidilao.

And Zhu is most proud of the changes in the kitchen.

"We tried a partially automated kitchen by giving some mechanical work to robots, so as to reduce labor intensity and labor force," said Zhu.

It's hardly surprising that this kind of unique offering has become such a huge attraction for Chinese and foreigners alike.

"I have never heard of the smart restaurant in [South] Korea before. But I've been here, it's [my] first experience," said a diner.

Diners said they're quite happy with the service, but they do miss the personal element.

"It's interesting to see the robots delivering the food. The only downside is that robots cannot interact with diners, and its service is quite simplex. And traditional waiters have to take care of both customers and these robots, even when there are so many diners. So it adds to their workload," said a second diner.

For the robots, they're still in the early stages of development, and the future seems bright.