ALWAYS LATE IN SHANGHAI WHEN NAVIGATING WITH GPS
“I often take for granted the ease of navigating around major cities around the world using apps like Google Maps. ”
ARTICLE SUMMARY
A navigation problem in Shanghai turned into a reminder to prepare for local conditions before a business trip. I describe how unreliable directions made me late for meetings and why knowing which tools work in the place I am visiting matters when clients are expecting me.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The story concerns difficulties I encountered using navigation apps during those visits.
The practical lesson is to plan local travel rather than assume familiar tools will work.
I often take for granted the ease of navigating around major cities around the world using apps like Google Maps. With my monthly visits to Shanghai, it reminded me how much we rely on GPS to get around these complex cities.
In China, stay away from Google Maps as it is not supported properly. Make sure you install Baidu Maps instead. Google Maps has only recently been allowed to operate in China, and we encountered a lot of difficulties trying to get around Shanghai using it.
Oftentimes the GPS within Google Maps was completely off, which caused me to be late to some meetings in Shanghai. Luckily, my clients were understanding. We hate to keep clients waiting though, so this tardiness is definitely something that we don’t want to repeat in Shanghai or anywhere else.
On your next trip, make sure to plan accordingly.
A Shanghai map alongside George Stroumboulis on the way to meetings in the city.
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