Quick answer
Baidu Maps is the most data-rich map app inside China, but it is Chinese-first: place labels, search, and transit instructions assume you read Chinese. As a foreign traveler in 2026 you have three workable paths — use Baidu Maps with pin-dropping and pasted Chinese addresses, switch to Amap (高德地图) for a genuine English interface, or run Apple Maps, which works in mainland China without a VPN. This guide shows what each option does well and how to set up a map stack before you land. I navigate Chinese cities weekly and refreshed this in September 2026.
Why this matters in 2026
Google Maps still has no licensed basemap for mainland China, so the "just use Google Maps" habit breaks the moment you land. Taxi drivers rarely know hotel names in English; metro exits are numbered in Chinese apps and absent in Western ones. Picking the right map app — and knowing its English limits before departure — decides whether a 15-minute metro trip takes 15 minutes or an hour.
Key facts at a glance
- Baidu Maps English support: partial place-name translation only; search and transit directions remain Chinese-first
- Amap (高德地图): full English interface including search and turn-by-turn text — the practical default for most visitors
- Apple Maps: works in mainland China without a VPN, with English labels in an interface you already know
- Google Maps: blocked from live navigation in mainland China; even with a VPN the basemap is offset and unreliable
- Best search trick: paste addresses in Chinese characters from Trip.com, a hotel booking, or the translate app
- Cost: all three apps are free, including offline packs
Step-by-step walkthrough
Step 1: Install before you fly
Download Baidu Maps (百度地图), Amap (高德地图), and your translation app at home. App stores work in China, but registration and first-run setup are smoother on your home network.
Step 2: Set the app language where possible
In Amap, switch Settings → Language to English for real English menus. Baidu Maps offers only partial English rendering of place names — set your system region to English and accept that the rest of the app stays Chinese.
Step 3: Build a search habit that avoids typing Chinese
Save destinations as favorites the moment you plan them: open the place from Trip.com or your hotel confirmation, drop a pin, and star it. Inside Baidu Maps, paste Chinese addresses directly rather than typing romanized names — "Nanjing Road" returns the wrong end of the street; 南京路步行街 returns the pedestrian section.
Step 4: Use transit directions with an escape hatch
Both apps route metro trips with fare, travel time, and which exit to use. The Chinese instructions are the point — show the screen to a station guard or match the exit number, and you are fine without reading a word.
Step 5: Hail rides from inside the map
Amap and Baidu Maps both embed taxi-hailing (Didi and aggregators) with upfront fares. This skips installing Didi separately, and the fare screen doubles as your negotiation-free proof of destination.
Step 6: Cache what you can
Download offline packs for your cities in both apps, and screenshot the Chinese address of your hotel before each leg. Offline display works on the plane and in basements; live search needs data, so keep an eSIM active.
Common scenarios and use cases
1. First trip, no Chinese at all
Install Amap in English and Apple Maps. Use Baidu Maps only when a specific place — a small restaurant, a museum wing — is missing from the other two, and reach it via a pasted Chinese address.
2. Business traveler with a Chinese colleague
Let your colleague drop pins in Baidu Maps and share them to you. You get the app's superior place data while someone else handles the Chinese input.
3. Navigation inside metro labyrinths
Trust the exit numbers. The apps' exit recommendation matters more than the map itself in Chinese metros — exits can be 400 meters apart. Screenshot the last instruction before you go underground, where data connections wobble.
4. Rural and scenic areas
Baidu Maps covers rural roads, trailheads, and village bus stops better than any foreign app. This is the one case where tolerating the Chinese-only interface pays off directly.
Costs and pricing breakdown
- Baidu Maps: free, including offline city packs
- Amap: free; English interface included
- Apple Maps: free, bundled on iPhone
- Ride-hailing through map apps: same fares as Didi direct, roughly CNY 12–20 for a typical 3 km city hop
- Metro fares: CNY 3–7 typical urban trips in tier-1 cities, shown in-app before you ride
- Data to run live search: eSIM plans from USD 5–15 cover a week of normal map use
Pitfalls to avoid
- Typing pinyin into Baidu Maps: "wangfujing" often returns nothing useful. Paste the characters 王府井 or drop a pin instead.
- Trusting English place names you typed yourself: the same English name can match several places. Always cross-check the district or a nearby landmark before riding.
- Leaving the hotel without the Chinese address: write it down or screenshot it. Taxi drivers read Chinese addresses, not your booking email.
- Assuming Google Maps data is just outdated: it is not merely stale — the coordinate offset in China can put a pin a street away from the real place.
- Ignoring the exit number: arriving at "the station" instead of the recommended exit routinely costs 10–15 minutes in a tier-1 metro.
Alternatives and trade-offs
- Amap in English: the everyday default — real English menus, honest walking ETAs, embedded ride-hailing. Slightly less deep than Baidu on small-town China.
- Apple Maps: familiar and VPN-free, good for driving routes; weaker on transit detail and interior mapping.
- Baidu Maps: deepest place data in the country; accept the Chinese-first interface as the price.
- Google Maps with a VPN: fine for reading your own saved pins, useless as the primary navigator — keep it only as a notes layer.
- Offline screenshots: zero-data fallback that still beats a dead phone in a basement interchange.
Local context and customs
Chinese drivers and pedestrians navigate by landmarks and gates rather than street addresses, so "the north gate of the temple" outranks a street number. When you show a taxi driver your screen, show the Chinese address page, not the map view — it reads faster. In malls and airports, the apps' indoor mapping helps, but following the bilingual signage on the wall is usually faster than any app. Metro staff at the information window routinely help foreigners with directions; point at your screen and they will mark the exit.
Verifying current information
App features and language support shift with every release cycle. Confirm through:
- Baidu Maps official site: https://map.baidu.com for desktop routing you can print
- Amap official site: https://www.amap.com for the current English feature set
- Apple support pages: China-specific Apple Maps availability notes
- Your hotel concierge: they will happily write out the Chinese address for your next stop
- Our problem page on maps: google-maps-not-working for why Western map stacks fail here
Putting it all together
In my experience the stack that survives a two-week trip is boring: Amap in English for daily navigation, Baidu Maps for the deep-data moments, and the hotel's Chinese address saved in both. Travelers who fight Baidu's Chinese-only search waste an hour a day; travelers who never type Chinese into it — pins, pastes, and favorites only — get the best map data in the country without reading a character.