• ABOUT
  • ADVERTISE
  • SUPPORT
  • CONTACT
  • WORK
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Shanghaiist
8 °c
Shanghai
7 ° Sat
6 ° Sun
6 ° Mon
5 ° Tue
5 ° Wed
9 ° Thu
  • NEWS

    Trump praises China’s use of death penalty for drug dealers, implies that the US should follow suit

    Chinese billionaire calls Australia a “giant baby” after having his permanent residency revoked

    Air NZ flight to Shanghai was forced to turn back because of Taiwan reference in paperwork

    China releases video of Uighur musician to show he wasn’t tortured to death in re-education camp

    On mock cooking show, Taiwan premier trolls China with Winnie the Pooh doll

    China does even worse than usual in latest global freedom ranking

    “Exploitation.” Awkward translation faux pas spotted at China-Africa friendship event

    US hits Huawei with 23 criminal indictments for violating Iran sanctions, stealing trade secrets

    Canada’s ambassador to China fired after making more controversial comments about Meng Wanzhou case

    George Soros calls Xi Jinping the world’s “most dangerous opponent” to open societies

    Bing is back! Microsoft’s search engine is no longer blocked in China

    Chinese meat giant’s stocks surge after founder returns home following 3-year “disappearance”

    Canada’s ambassador to China says Meng Wanzhou has a “strong case” for fighting extradition

    China has blocked Bing

    Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun detained in China

    McDonald’s accused of supporting Taiwan independence with “controversial” commercial

    Massive sky corridor connected atop four skyscrapers in Chongqing

    Huawei founder says his company does not spy for China and would refuse if Beijing asked

    China issues travel alert of its own, warning its citizens about visiting Canada

    Canada issues China travel warning after Canadian is sentenced to death for drug smuggling

  • L!FE
  • FOOD
  • GALLERY
  • VIDEO

    WATCH: Dad spotted driving on snowy road, pulling son behind in tire sled

    This is what a ¥10,000 seafood dinner looks like in Guangzhou

    WATCH: Heroic firefighter drags burning gas cylinder out of house

    WATCH: How to run a tea scam at Starbucks

    WATCH: Dude writes Chinese calligraphy on stone with power grinder

    WATCH: Rodrigo Duterte, Kim Jong-un impersonators mobbed in Hong Kong

    WATCH: Incredible synchronized performance from Shaolin students at this year’s Spring Festival Gala

    WATCH: Aerial footage of massive 5 km long traffic jam on Guangdong expressway during CNY rush

    PLA soldiers celebrate Chinese New Year by forming the shape of Peppa the Pig

    Photography Friday: An interview with Huang Xiaoliang

    Hangzhou hotel opens up hot pot-style hot spring for hungry guests

    Boy puts lit fireworks down manhole cover, blows up sidewalk

    Meet the kids who grew up in Chinese restaurants

    WATCH: Apple marks Chinese New Year with short, sweet film shot by Jia Zhangke on an iPhone XS

    Chinese internet falls in love with big fluffy emotional support dog on passenger plane

    WATCH: Bull escapes slaughterhouse, charges woman in restaurant

    WATCH: Aerial footage of Wuhan’s mindblowingly massive bullet train maintenance center

    WATCH: Shanxi principal replaces boring morning exercise routine with super cool dance moves

    WATCH: Laowai rents a Chinese dad

    WATCH: Chinese passersby get asked if they live in a democratic country

  • EVENTS
    • DINING
      • BRUNCH
      • AFTERNOON TEA
    • NIGHTLIFE
      • LADIES’ NIGHT
      • HAPPY HOUR
      • MUSIC
    • EXHIBITIONS
      • ART SHOWS
      • TRADE FAIRS
    • COMMUNITY
    • EDUCATION
    • ★ LIST YOUR EVENT
    • ★ BE A VENUE PARTNER
    • ★ SUBMIT A GALLERY
  • TICKETS
    • FAQ
No Result
View All Result
Shanghaiist
No Result
View All Result
Shanghaiist
No Result
View All Result

Chinese version of Google maps

by shang_peijin
May 5, 2018
in News, Other

shanghaigooglemapchina.jpg
We’re not sure when the beta version of Google maps for China came out, since we hardly ever use the Chinese version of Google . We saw that it had the little “new” tag affixed to it, and from some searches it seems that it was sometime in February, so not too long ago.
This service, located at ditu.google.cn, has replaced Google Local, which was at bendi.google.cn. First off, there’s a couple of big differences between this and Google Maps for the US. You can’t use satellite or hybrid mode in the Chinese version. If you want a satellite you have to go back to using Google Earth or other such sites, and of course it’s hard to find your way there because all you see are blotches of rooftops. Ditu.google.cn just has the regular graphics.
Comparing this map with another map service, such as Ding Ding. Ding Ding, for us, is still a bit better. For one, there’s a drop down menu for cities, so you can pick ‘Shanghai’ and just type in the address, whereas for Google you have to write the city name and then the street name. For certain addresses, Google can figure out it’s Shanghai if that address doesn’t appear anywhere else. But if you type in something generic like “Zhong Shan Lu 1000” then it’ll say “did you mean … ” and list a whole bunch of cities and places other than Shanghai.
Like Bendi.google.com you could search stuff like “hot pot near Xujiahui,” and definitely some things show up though how comprehensive it is is hard to say.
However, there were some weird kinks in ditu.google.cn, for example, when we tried to type in a friend’s address, and get driving directions from our place to theirs. When we typed in their address, Google asked us “did you mean” and one of the choices was the exact address. However, as soon as we clicked on it, the driving directions were to some other place, on the same road, but completely wrong number.
We’ve tried some other combinations, and it’s something of a crap shoot. Google’s driving directions, when they work, are more detailed than Ding Ding’s—they tell you distances, e.g. go on Huai Hai Lu for 350 meters, etc. However, Ding Ding doesn’t have weird bugs like Google, if you type in the address correctly, it knows what place you are talking about. Furthermore, Ding Ding allows you to choose between driving and public transportation directions, which is quite practical for people who don’t own cars.
Google has an advantage in that fuzzy searches work better. For example, say you want to get from the Shanghai Library to the Shanghai Art Museum, and you don’t know their addresses. You can just type in their names in Chinese and it’ll come out, whereas for Ding Ding it’ll say that you typed invalid addresses.
Strangely, we could not find anything on Google’s China blog about this new service. Maybe it came out way before February?
Also, Google.cn has an added feature that you might find helpful—you can search in pinyin, and a drop-down menu of related Chinese character searches will appear, with the number of searches next to it. For example, if you are interested in actress Gong Li, you can type ‘gongli’ into google.cn and then see the various Chinese searches appear next to it.

Share this:

  • Pocket
  • Telegram
  • Print
Shanghaiist

© 2005-2018 Shanghaiist - China in bite-sized portions!

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Join the Community
  • List Your Event
  • Be a Venue Partner
  • Submit a Gallery
  • Work with us
  • Privacy & Terms
  • Contact

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • NEWS
  • L!FE
  • FOOD
  • GALLERY
  • VIDEO
  • EVENTS
    • DINING
      • BRUNCH
      • AFTERNOON TEA
    • NIGHTLIFE
      • LADIES’ NIGHT
      • HAPPY HOUR
      • MUSIC
    • EXHIBITIONS
      • ART SHOWS
      • TRADE FAIRS
    • COMMUNITY
    • EDUCATION
    • ★ LIST YOUR EVENT
    • ★ BE A VENUE PARTNER
    • ★ SUBMIT A GALLERY
  • TICKETS
    • FAQ

© 2005-2018 Shanghaiist - China in bite-sized portions!