Best Map Apps for China: Amap, Apple Maps, Baidu and Why Not Google

For mainland China, install Amap (高德地图, Gāodé Dìtú, also called Gaode) before you fly. It has had an English version since January 2025, it handles walking, metro, bus and driving routes in one place, and it can call a ride for you in English. If you use an iPhone, Apple Maps is a good second app that needs no setup, because Apple lists mainland China for turn-by-turn directions, live traffic and public transit. Google Maps is the one to leave behind: it does not load in mainland China without a workaround, and even when it does, its street map can sit off from where you really are. Set up one of the first two at home, test a route, and you are covered.

Which map app to install for China: quick comparison

Most visitors need one app that works in English, finds the metro, and can get them a car when their feet give out. Here is how the four names you will hear compare, as of October 2026. App features change often, so treat the app's own screens as the final word.

Our pick for most people: Amap as the main app on any phone. iPhone users can add Apple Maps as a backup for quick walking directions. Baidu Maps only makes sense if you read Chinese. Google Maps stays useful for planning at home and for Hong Kong, not for finding your way in mainland cities.

Why Google Maps doesn't work well in mainland China

There are two separate problems, and fixing the first one does not fix the second.

It doesn't load. China's official tourism website, Travel China, says Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp cannot be accessed directly in China and that a VPN is needed to reach them. Without a workaround, Google Maps on a Chinese SIM or hotel Wi-Fi will spin or show a blank grid. Our internet and VPN guide explains what the official sources say about that side of things.

Its map doesn't line up. Chinese law treats detailed map data as sensitive. Online map services in China must use maps that have passed state review, and they need a surveying licence and must keep their map data on servers inside China. Maps built from sensitive survey data must go through a state-approved confidentiality processing step. Public maps of China also have a precision limit: they may not be more precise than 10 metres. In practice, foreign maps that sit outside this licensing system often show your blue dot across the road, on top of a building, or in the wrong lane of a junction, and their walking directions can send you the wrong way.

So switching on a VPN does not turn Google Maps into a good navigation app in mainland China. In practice, Chinese map apps line your dot up with the street. Licensed Chinese map apps also show an approval number (审图号, shěntú hào, "map review number") somewhere on the map, because approved maps have to display it.

Amap (Gaode): the one to install

Amap belongs to Alibaba and is one of the two big map apps people in China use every day. For a long time it was Chinese only. That changed in January 2025, when Amap launched an English version for overseas users, and on 9 July 2025 it added 14 more languages, including Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Italian and Russian, downloadable from the App Store and Google Play. The Shanghai government's English site reported the multilingual launch at the time.

Which download to get

On Google Play, the listing "AMap Global 高德地图" is the same app as the Chinese Amap, with the same package name, not a separate download. Search for "Amap" in your app store, install it at home, and pick English when it asks or in the app's settings. Menus move between versions, so look for the language option rather than a fixed path.

What it does well

• Every way of getting around. Amap gives the same driving, walking, cycling and public transport directions to visitors as to local users. For a visitor, the metro and walking routes are the ones you will use most.
• Taxis in English. The multilingual version lets foreign visitors in mainland China call cars from several ride platforms with one tap and see the pickup point and estimated fare in English. Amap works with at least 80 partner ride-hailing platforms and sends your request to several at once to get a faster pickup. The car and driver belong to the partner platform, so a complaint about a trip goes through that platform's record in the app.
• A visitor toolkit. As of July 2026, Amap's service for international visitors covers pre-arrival entry information, airport guidance and routes to your hotel, bilingual phrase cards for talking to drivers and hotel staff, nearby suggestions, and emergency and public-service phone numbers; most of these main services work without logging in.

What to check yourself

Browsing maps and routes needs no account, which helps if you have no Chinese phone number. If you want to book a ride, expect to be asked to sign in, and check on the sign-up screen whether your home number is accepted. How you pay for an Amap ride also depends on what the payment screen offers you; if Alipay is one of the options, our Alipay guide covers linking a foreign card. Try both steps at your hotel on the first day, before you actually need a car.

Apple Maps: the easy option on iPhone

If you carry an iPhone, Apple Maps is already installed, already in your language, and needs no account. Many travellers assume it is weak in China. Apple's own feature list says otherwise: mainland China is listed for turn-by-turn navigation, live traffic and public transit in Apple Maps. You can check the current list on Apple's iOS feature availability page.

In practice, most travellers find Apple Maps puts their dot on the right street in mainland China, unlike Google Maps. It is good for walking between sights, checking how far a place is, and getting a metro route in English with no setup.

Where it falls short is depth. Place listings for small restaurants and shops are thinner than in Amap, and it cannot book you a car. A common pattern is to use Apple Maps for quick walking checks and open Amap when you need a taxi or a detailed metro transfer.

The other gap is offline use. Apple Maps on iOS 17 and later can download offline maps with turn-by-turn directions, but Apple says offline maps are only offered in some regions and features vary by country; it does not state that mainland China is one of them. Try downloading your city before you go. If the option is missing for China, plan on a data connection instead.

Baidu Maps: for Chinese readers

Baidu Maps (百度地图, Bǎidù Dìtú) is Amap's main local rival and has very detailed data, but it is built for Chinese speakers. Its China App Store listing gives Simplified Chinese and English as languages, and Baidu offers no visitor guide to an English version of the main app. If you read Chinese or travel with someone who does, it is a fine choice; otherwise Amap will be easier.

Which app for which job

Metro. Amap or Apple Maps will both give you a station-to-station metro route with transfers. Before you go down, check which exit to use, because big stations have many and the wrong one can leave you on the far side of a wide road. Our China metro guide covers tickets, QR codes and transfers city by city. Late at night, check the last train before you set off: the last-train tables for Beijing and Shanghai show it by station. If you want metro routes and day plans that keep working without a signal, the WaysChina app does offline metro routing and trip planning for 10 Chinese cities; it is a planning helper, not a replacement for a live map.

Bus. Amap is the stronger choice here. Bus stop names are often only in Chinese characters, or in pinyin that is hard to match, so keep the app open on the route and count the stops.

Walking. Any of the working apps is fine. Apple Maps is the quickest on an iPhone.

Taxi and ride-hailing. You have two good routes. Amap calls cars from several platforms in English. DiDi, China's best-known ride-hailing app, offers an English version and lets you sign up with a foreign mobile number. Our DiDi guide walks through sign-up, payment and safety, and taxis and ride-hailing in China covers street taxis too.

Restaurants and shops. Amap has the richest local listings of the apps that work in English. Search by the name you see on the sign, or browse the map around you, then use its walking route to get there.

Offline use and addresses

Without a data connection

Map apps work best online: live positions, search and taxi booking all need data. Amap's September 2026 App Store update notes say it now covers offline navigation for metro, cycling and walking. Those notes do not say whether you need to download anything first or whether this works in the English version, so check inside the app before you rely on it. Apple's offline maps may not cover mainland China, as explained above.

Public Wi-Fi is a weaker backup than it looks. Travel China notes that public Wi-Fi in China usually sends a login code to a Chinese phone number, which a foreign SIM cannot receive. A few big airports are the exception: Shanghai Pudong, for example, lets you log in to its free Wi-Fi by scanning your passport photo page, and our internet and VPN guide lists the airport options. The simplest fix is to arrive with data already working. Travel China suggests buying a regional eSIM that covers China before you enter and activating it on arrival. One option is an eSIM from Airalo, which you can install at home so your map works as soon as you land. Our China SIM card and eSIM guide compares eSIMs, airport SIM cards and roaming.

Save addresses in Chinese

Pinyin, the Latin spelling of Chinese, is a weak way to search. Many places share the same sound, English names vary from one listing to another, and the app may show several results with the same pinyin. Do this instead:

• Copy your hotel address in Chinese characters from the booking confirmation or the hotel's own message, and save it in your notes and as a starred place in your map app.
• Pick the exact place, not just the area. "Hongqiao" in Shanghai can mean Terminal 1, Terminal 2 or the railway station. Metro Line 10 links Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and Hongqiao Railway Station, so choose the right one before you set off.
• Show the screen, don't say the name. A taxi driver can read a Chinese address much faster than they can work out your pronunciation. Amap's phrase cards for drivers and hotel staff help with the rest.
• Use a camera translator for signs. When a street sign or menu has no English, a translation app fills the gap; our translation apps comparison covers the ones that work offline.

Before you fly: install Amap, switch it to English, star your first hotel in Chinese, run one test route, and make sure you will have data on landing. For the rest of your phone setup, see our must-have apps checklist.

Last updated: November 2026