Which maps to use instead of Google Maps

Why your usual map is worse here

It is not only about whether the service is reachable. Data on venues, opening hours and metro entrances and exits is collected by local companies, and in foreign maps it is either absent or years out of date.

The second is coordinate systems. China mandates its own, offset from GPS by hundreds of metres. Local maps work in it and show the point correctly; coordinates from different sources must not be mixed.

The practical conclusion is simple: use a local map for navigating inside the country and keep the familiar one for planning at home.

What to install

1. 1

   Amap (高德地图) — the main option

   The fullest database of places, routes by metro, bus, taxi and on foot, and numbered metro exits. The interface is Chinese but English is in the settings, and the icons are recognisable.

   There is an Amap mini-programme inside Alipay — you can use it without installing a separate app or creating another account.

2. 2

   Apple Maps — if you have an iPhone

   In mainland China Apple Maps runs on local data and labels what you need in English. It has fewer places than Amap, but for getting to an address it is usually enough, and there is nothing to install.

3. 3

   Baidu Maps — the other local one

   Comparable to Amap on data, with less English. Worth it when a particular place turns up only there — which happens with small venues and buildings inside factory compounds.

What you need to be able to do

Find a place by its Chinese name. The English name almost never matches the official Chinese one, so search in characters — you can copy them from a booking confirmation or from the venue’s listing.

Save the pin. All three maps have favourites; saving the hotel address on day one saves a lot of time later.

Pick the metro exit. A large station has fifteen or so, and the difference between them can be a kilometre at street level. A local map gives the exit number in the route; go by that rather than “roughly that way”.

Show the address to a driver. A screen with the Chinese name and a pin is the fastest way to make yourself understood; more in the taxi guide.