Short answer: No, and no. Google Maps is not a workable navigator in mainland China, and Uber has not run a service there since 2016. What works is a Chinese map app carrying live local data, which means Amap, set to English, and a Chinese ride-hailing app for the car itself. Both are free, both accept a foreign mobile number, and neither one requires you to buy a local SIM card first.
Why Google Maps lets you down
Two separate problems, and only one of them is the network. Google's consumer services are not normally reachable from a mainland connection, so the map may not load at all unless your data plan routes traffic out of the country. The second problem survives a perfect connection: public maps in China are published in a national encrypted coordinate system, and foreign map data is not corrected to it, so the pin can sit a street or two away from the door you are standing in front of. Worse, the street layer is thin on hutongs, mall entrances and station exits, which is exactly the level of detail a visitor needs.
The map to install: Amap
Amap, known in Chinese as Gaode Map, is Alibaba's mapping service and the app Chinese residents actually navigate with. It carries an English interface, and since 2025 a dedicated international build, AMAP Global, distributed through the App Store and Google Play. English covers search, walking, driving, cycling and public transport, and it does the single most useful thing a visitor needs in a Chinese city: transit directions name the exit, so you leave the station at the right one instead of surfacing on the wrong side of a six-lane road. Signing in for ride-hailing accepts mobile numbers from 65 countries and regions, and much of the map works without signing in at all.
Install it before you fly, switch the language in settings, and save your hotel and each day's main sight while you are still on hotel Wi-Fi. Save the hotel name in Chinese characters too, because that string is what you will show a driver who reads no English.
If you carry an iPhone, you already have a good map
Inside mainland China, Apple Maps runs on map data licensed from Amap, a point Apple states directly in its own documentation for Maps in China. The effect is an English interface over an accurate local data set, with the coordinate offset handled for you, no download and no VPN. Turn-by-turn, transit routing and metro lines all work. It is thinner than Amap on small restaurants and neighbourhood shops, so treat the two as a pair rather than a choice.
Baidu Maps, and when it beats both
Baidu Maps has the deepest coverage of small cities, back alleys and tiny food shops, but the interface is largely Chinese and English searches come back thin. Keep it as the backup for one specific address in a smaller city, not as your daily driver.
Uber: gone from the mainland, still in Hong Kong, China
Uber sold its mainland China business to DiDi Chuxing in 2016, and the brand, the app and the data moved across with it; there is no Uber service to hail in Beijing, Shanghai or Xi'an today. In Hong Kong, China, Uber does operate and has been expanding. So the honest answer to the Uber half of the question depends entirely on which side of the border you are standing on.
Booking a car: the options that work
| Option | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| DiDi app | English interface; register with a foreign number and pay with an international card | Everyday use in cities |
| Alipay, then Transport, then Taxi | Books a car inside the payment app you already set up | One-off rides with no extra download |
| WeChat, then Services, then Ride Hailing | The same flow through WeChat | If WeChat is your payment app |
| Street taxi, meter running | Raise a hand, show the destination in Chinese, pay on the meter | Stations, late nights, no signal |
| 95128 taxi hotline | A city dispatch line, answered in many cities | When the app will not cooperate |
| Hotel desk or your guide | Car arranged and priced before you leave | Airport runs, day trips, heavy luggage |
What to get right at the kerb
Set the pickup pin precisely, then walk to the zone the app names, because large stations and airports have designated pickup areas and a car cannot stop wherever it likes. Check the plate number against the app before you open the door, and keep the trip live in the app rather than agreeing a price on the pavement. In-app chat translates between you and the driver, which removes most of the friction, and the destination already appears in Chinese on the driver's screen, so you rarely need to explain the route. Cash is still legal tender, but a driver may not have change for a large note.
Paying for it
Ride-hailing is paid inside the app, so link a foreign card to Alipay or WeChat before you land and the fare settles itself when you step out. Fares follow a meter or an app-quoted price, and there is no tip to add on top. Expect a multiplier during rain, rush hour and public holidays, quoted before you confirm, so a high number at 6pm is normal rather than a scam.
Hong Kong, China and Macao, China
Hong Kong, China behaves like an international city: Uber operates there, local taxis are metered, and the MTR covers most of what a visitor wants. Macao, China is compact enough that metered taxis and hotel shuttles handle nearly every trip, and app-based hailing is thinner than on the mainland, so keep some cash for the taxi rank.
Bottom line
Install Amap or rely on Apple Maps, book the car through DiDi or the Alipay and WeChat transport menus, and keep a screenshot of your hotel address in Chinese. That combination covers the whole mainland trip, and it costs nothing. If you would rather not manage any of it, send us your dates and we will arrange the drivers, the transfers and the guides.
Last updated: November 1, 2026. Source: Apple, Maps and Privacy, section on Maps Service in China (support.apple.com/en-us/HT212039); A Guide to Working and Living in China as Business Expatriates, section on online ride-hailing services (gov.cn); China Daily, How to take a taxi in China, 11 December 2025; CCTV.com, report on AMAP ride-hailing and sign-in from 65 countries and regions, 10 July 2026; Shanghai Municipal People's Government English portal, Digital map services expand support for international visitors, 13 July 2026; China Daily, Rivals Didi and Uber to join forces, 2 August 2016.
