Humanoid robots are having a moment in China, and if you thought that moment might involve quiet laboratory testing, think again. The country is rolling out the machines as part of a strategy to bring artificial intelligence into daily life - because nothing says 'daily life' like a robot doing a handstand at a carnival. Embedding AI into physical systems, a concept known as embodied AI, was a key facet of China's latest five-year plan. And it's working: nearly 90% of the more than 13,000 two-armed, two-legged robots delivered globally last year were made in China.

At a robot 'carnival' held by an R&D center on the outskirts of Shanghai, an 11-year-old boy shouted, 'Look, it is trying to do a handstand!' while his new mini robotic dog attempted a series of stunts. The toy pet, a gift from his mom, was the star of the show for him, but the event had plenty to offer. The hub houses more than 100 companies that research, develop, manufacture, and market robotic technologies, ranging from practical bots that transport heavy loads or inspect sewage pipes to, apparently, entertainment models that shoot water beads at each other.

In one corner, staffers taught youngsters how to make a quadrupedal robot walk up stairs. In another, a tense battle erupted between two remote-controlled robots firing water beads, with children cheering from around a temporary ring. (A staffer declared the duel a draw, much to everyone's relief.) Showcases like this are important, organizers say, because they let the public experience robots up close. Some of China's most prominent robotics companies are building humanoids that 'can free people from physical work and mundane chores,' according to Yang Duan, a product manager at DexForce, which exhibited a model that can make coffee. A few booths down, a pair of robotic arms attempted to fold a basket of T-shirts - presumably freeing humans for more important tasks like watching robots fold T-shirts.

Exposure matters, because elsewhere humanoids have had a rough go: safety challenges due to their heft and need to balance on two legs, high prices, and short battery life have limited their appeal. Plenty of roboticists are skeptical that a human form is even the best shape for a robot. But Chinese firms are pushing forward, undeterred by such concerns. As this carnival took place in Shanghai, shopping malls and tourist attractions in other Chinese cities hosted humanoids performing for crowds. In Beijing, bipedal robots ran half-marathons - because why let humans have all the fun? The PR campaign seemed to be winning over hearts and minds, at least on that particular weekend in Shanghai.

Applause rang out from the festival's main tent, where a humanoid wearing a blinged-out top showed off a martial arts style known as drunken boxing, while a fellow humanoid performed a front flip to woo the crowd. Alongside the stage, a squad of small robotic lions waited to perform. The audience chanted, 'More, more, more.' And who are we to deny them? At this rate, the robots will soon be demanding encores themselves.