Originally Posted by STS-134

My wife (Chinese citizen) uses Google Maps whenever she can (which is mostly okay for navigating the streets of most large cities). If she can't find what she's looking for on Google (info about businesses, etc), she'll use Baidu.



When you type into Baidu Maps in pinyin, I think it shows the characters. You can then choose the place you want to go to. You don't need to know how to type the Chinese characters on your keyboard (although it's pretty much the same process, choose the proper characters).

Chinese plans are much cheaper than US plans. I don't use a Chinese SIM card personally, since it would require using a VPN, which drains my phone's battery. I use a HK SIM, which is also a pretty good deal compared to US plans.