Lost Laowai: Bilingual Map App for Foreigners in China


ShekouDaily   |   January 9, 2019

Ever since American Jason Stine came to China several years ago as a foreigner who couldn’t read much Chinese, he quickly realized that there was no good up-to-date and bilingual map app he could use for getting around. Google Maps, even if accessible via a VPN, was out of date with inaccurate transportation information. Apple Maps was only accessible on Apple devices, and only showed English/Pinyin, often incorrectly mixing up the two when showing place names. And the other apps were just plain unreliable. So then after some time of improving his Chinese, he came up with a solution: Lost Laowai Need a reliable up-to-date map app for China that shows everything in English/Pinyin/Chinese and can get you anywhere you need to go? Want to ride buses in China but can’t read Chinese? Lost Laowai may be just for you!

Get directions for taking buses, trains, subways, and walking – travel around China with confidence! Lost Laowai brings China’s most popular map app used among Chinese people – known as AMap/AutoNavi/高德地图 – to people who have difficulties reading Chinese! * Search in English, pinyin, or Chinese as well as view all place names in these 3 forms.

* Get bilingual public transportation and walking directions to any place in China. 

In addition: * Discover restaurants, entertainment venues, business destinations, and other places useful for foreigners in China. * Search for English/pinyin-only addresses. * Favorite locations and set Home/Work locations for getting directions quickly to places you go to often. * View China’s most up-to-date map and satellite imagery. For more information and download instructions, visit our website: http://lostlaowai.wixsite.com/home Lost Laowai was developed by American Jason Stine who is now seeking to apply the concept to other languages and countries and to integrate with other businesses. If you’re interested in supporting, contributing, collaborating, or learning more, please visit the Lost Laowai website via the link above. Find your way in China – Download the Lost Laowai APP today! Available for iOS and Android.