Best of all was the Secluded Scenery Area, where the twittering of birds and the fragrance of flowers enhance the wonderful natural landscapes of trees, flowers and grass, creating a special atmosphere.

After taking a sightseeing boat tour at the Turtle Head Isle dock, I tried to find a nearby restaurant on the app.

My new friend once again offered me various options, along with information, customer feedback and photos of each restaurant.

I quickly chose one featuring traditional Huaiyang cuisine and was rewarded with an awe-inspiring meal of local delicacies, especially a dish featuring the famed "Three Whites" of Taihu Lake — the white shrimp, white fish and silver fish.

My two-day trip to Wuxi left me impressed, as I expected, and my smart companion contributed a lot to this along the way. But I was surprised to find that Aiyowei is actually just a small part of Wuxi's digital services for tourists.

I was told that there are multiple online platforms providing comprehensive travel services including apps, websites, WeChat accounts and Weibo feeds.

Probably the best of all is the Wuxi Tourism mobile app, which covers local tourism resources, products and services — attractions, hotels, restaurants, transport, shopping and more.

The city has cooperated with various domestic online travel websites to ensure the app provides quality information for tourists.

The app also features many additional functions, such as hotel reservations, GPS directions, voice activation software and information sharing.

Wuxi’s cloud computing center serves as the central nervous system of all these online platforms, which is responsible for data collection, analysis, exchange and distribution.

In terms of smart tourism, I feel the city is way ahead of much of the rest of China.

As I waited for my train home, big crowds were cramming through the station turnstiles into the sun-drenched city, just like I had two days ago. I think I'll keep my friend on my phone for a while yet.