Visitors at the Smart City Expo China 2011 held in Ningbo of Zhejiang province from Sept 2 - 4.

Zhejiang shows off its “smart” technologies with a special exposition, Wu Yiyao reports.

Imagine a smart kitchen that can grow vegetables and fruit in a cupboard where the temperature and humidity levels are controlled automatically.

When the fruits and vegetables are ripe, they are prepared according to various recipes stored on a computerized oven.

This kind of kitchen is no longer just a place to prepare meals; it’s a gourmet hub that takes food from the field and brings it to the table.

With development of technologies and the application of the Internet of Things, the smart kitchen will enter the market in 2015, according to Oulin Kitchenware, a smart kitchen manufacturer.

The Smart City Expo China 2011 held in Ningbo from Sept 2 through 4 featured thousands of technologies and applications that will make cities “smarter”, attracting tens of thousands people to see the latest technological developments.

Interactive exhibitions and displays focused on smart city construction, the Internet of Things and cloud computing attracted some 12,000 professional visitors and 20,000 local residents.

The expo served as a successor to the Expo 2010 Shanghai, which presented how city life could be made better through various efforts.

“Technologies and applications are definitely going to make our cities smarter, which can serve our urban residents’ needs at a lower cost and make management of cities more effective,” said Chen Bingrong, a spokesman with Ningbo city government.

This expo was the very first high-profile fair in China promoting smart cities in China.

“Ningbo is one of the first cities to pioneer systematic technologies and smart city applications in China,” Chen said.“With its economic development and increasing number of enterprises, cities throughout Zhejiang will benefit from the exhibition.”

The event also spurred economic growth, with the signing of about 6 billion yuan ($940 million) in contract agreements, according to statistics from the Ningbo city government.

More than 10 foreign and multinational companies and groups participated in the event, displaying cutting-edge technologies and applications that make urban life easier and better.

Smart cities will offer residents smart experiences in economy, mobility, environment, communications, living standards and governance.

All these dimensions of urban life will make life easier for residents and help them save money, time and trouble.

Tong Shu, a 17-year-old student was most impressed with a real-time traffic monitor that uses satellite and geographical information systems so that people will know when the traffic is really heavy, when to book a taxi in an area that doesn’t have many or even how to navigate a new city.

“This system is awesome as it saves time and money, and can help people make the best decision based on the information they need,” he said.