Getting around: Amap for maps, DiDi as your backup
Install Amap before you fly. It works in English without an account, and you can order a ride from it. Keep DiDi as the backup.
Last verified 6 November 2026. Checked against: Our own experience.
Install Amap before you fly
Do this at home, on wifi. Search for "Amap" in your app store and install AMap Global.
Details
Do this at home, on wifi, before you fly.
Open your app store and search for “Amap”. If your App Store account is not set to China, AMap Global is the first result.
Signing in is optional
It works in English and it works without an account. Sign in only if you want it to remember your walks and places.
Details
You do not need an account. Navigation works without one, and everything was in English on our phone with a Hong Kong number.
If you sign in, Amap remembers how far you have walked or cycled and the places you have visited. We signed in with a Hong Kong number and it worked.
If sign-in fails, carry on without it. You do not need a local SIM for this.
Getting a car: use ride hailing inside Amap
Once the route is showing, press the ride hailing button in Amap.
Details
Once the route is showing, press the ride hailing button in Amap. It is easier than copying a destination into another app.
If Amap will not give you a car: DiDi
Keep DiDi as the backup, and set it up at home on wifi before you fly.
Details
If ride hailing in Amap does not work, use DiDi.
Set DiDi up at home, on wifi, before you fly.
Do this next
Get the Dao companion when it launches in Shenzhen
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