MapTrip (maptrip.ai) is an independent, foreigner-focused travel guide for Chinese megacities. It exists because most English-language China travel content is either decades old, lifted from Chinese platforms without context, or behind a paywall — and the practical questions a first-time visitor actually asks (How do I pay for the metro? Do I need a VPN? Will my visa cover a transit stop?) get lost in the noise.
What you'll find here
- City guides for Shanghai and Beijing today, with more cities rolling out. Each guide indexes vetted POIs by reviews and photos, maps vlog routes stop by stop, and walks you through the practical mechanics (visa, money, transit, language).
- Trip planner — drop POIs onto a day-by-day timeline and let the AI sanity-check pacing, travel time, and missing essentials before you fly.
- Pre-trip checklist — eSIM, VPN, travel insurance, and the one or two payment apps that actually work for foreigners in 2026.
How the content is made
POIs are curated by hand from a mix of editor research, foreigner reviews, and on-the-ground photos. Vlog routes are transcribed from well-rated YouTube channels and mapped onto each city's metro and walking grid. Visa and payment guides are checked monthly against official sources (consulates, Alipay/WeChat Pay help docs, transit operator announcements).
AI is used for two narrow tasks: explaining individual POIs in the sidebar chat, and reviewing user-built itineraries for pacing problems. It does not write the guides.
Who runs it
MapTrip is a one-person project — built and maintained out of a deep annoyance at how hard it still is to plan a China trip from outside the wall. Feedback, corrections, and city requests are very welcome.
How we make money
The site is free. We do not run third-party ads. Right now we earn a small commission only on hotel, attraction, train, and Trip.com Insurance bookings made through our outbound Trip.com links — at no extra cost to you. Other brands we recommend (Airalo, ExpressVPN, Holafly, SafetyWing, etc.) currently link to their plain homepages with no tracking and no commission to us. We apply to additional affiliate programs as our audience grows, and the Affiliate Disclosure page lists exactly which links earn what.
Contact
Questions, corrections, partnership inquiries, or city requests: hyg520csh@gmail.com
You can also drop a message via the 留言板 in the sidebar of any city guide — it goes to the same inbox.