GPS: GPS maps of China

[Bryan]

I have a Garmin GPSMap 60 CSx, which was less than $300 US. They are definitely more expensive in China, but they come with the China City Navigator and modified firmware to make it work correctly (to counter the map's built-in positional offsets). The map won't work correctly when added to an existing GPS, so the only choice (currently) is to buy the Unistrong units which, as far as I know, are only available within China.

This thread will tell you all the details you want to know and more: http://www.pda4x.com/read.php?tid=56398

The 60CSx is an excellent receiver. Satellites are acquired quickly in almost any location and batteries last for a very long time. Seems like well over 12~15 hours, but I have never tested carefully. It's officially rated at "up to 20 hours".

[Kim]

Tricky
Since I already have the China City Navigator in my Nüvi 300 maybe I should save the money and buy it in Denmark. The map is not that detailed anyway so it can only be used to navigate in the car not for trekking.

[Bryan]

What I wouldn't give for a good China topographic map . . .

[Kim]

I bought a computer map last week - mapchina2008 - hoping it would have some details and maybe even the Great Wall. Although only in Chinese the map is very good but no details other than the roads and location of banks, supermarkets etc.

[robert_loken]

Hello,

Do any of you have any experience with the following map system?
http://www.fugawi.com/web/products/maps_china_east.htm

They are a digitalized version of the 1:500 000 tactical pilotage charts. If nothing else, this would save a lot of weight. In addition, with the Google Earth Plugin, it is possible to look at the map and Google Earth side by side.

[chinoook]

Originally Posted by robert_loken

Do any of you have any experience with the following map system?
http://www.fugawi.com/web/products/maps_china_east.htm

No, I don't have _any_ experience with this maps. Is there any West China coverage? Finding walls here should be _much_ more difficult.

They are a digitalized version of the 1:500 000 tactical pilotage charts. If nothing else, this would save a lot of weight. In addition, with the Google Earth Plugin, it is possible to look at the map and Google Earth side by side.

I used these maps:
Klick.

They are _very_ confidential, they show about perfectly the physical geography, which proved in many cases the neccessary clue to find the wall or water or a bridge or ... They are 1:500.000 as well and I would never go out there without these maps. I printed the relevant tiles (2 sided) and carried two sets of this. This is in my opinion the best achievable map solution for the GW. You can get an impression of the map qualitiy on a website I posted here in the Approved Members Forum.

GE in your hands is a _very_ nice and usable feature but due to weight reduction (and for the purpose of keeping everything simple and stupid) I did not carry any additional gadgets (beside my GPS device). But: chacun á son goút.


-chinoook

[robert_loken]

Originally Posted by chinoook

Is there any West China coverage? Finding walls here should be _much_ more difficult.

I used these maps:
Klick.

Yes - there is also West China coverage. http://tinyurl.com/ajrhst
Thanks for information on the Russian maps. I see they are both 1:500 000, so will have to try and compair the quality. The Russian maps you refer to are 'only' on paper right?

Originally Posted by chinoook

GE in your hands is a _very_ nice and usable feature but due to weight reduction (and for the purpose of keeping everything simple and stupid) I did not carry any additional gadgets (beside my GPS device). But: chacun á son goút.

I agree on the weight issue. I've been spending a lot of time combatting weight. Thing is though that since I want pictures to be a major part of the website, and I want to make them and upload them en route, I need a light weight laptop.

Thanks for your helpful comments!

[chinoook]

Originally Posted by robert_loken

Yes - there is also West China coverage. http://tinyurl.com/ajrhst
Thanks for information on the Russian maps. I see they are both 1:500 000, so will have to try and compair the quality. The Russian maps you refer to are 'only' on paper right?

I do not understand. The link I quoted shows two CDs. They contain .jpg files, thus printable. Using appropriate software (e.g. Fugawi, I use ttqv) will open software access to them.
You also can also buy the RMM (Russian Military Maps) printed on paper. But this will be a heavy pack, if all GW has to be contained.


-chinoook

[robert_loken]

Originally Posted by chinoook

I do not understand. The link I quoted shows two CDs. Those are .jpg files, thus printable. Using appropriate software (e.g. Fugawi, I use ttqv) will open software access to them.


-chinoook

Thanks Chinoook

[robert_loken]

Very long time since I have been logged on here. I don't know if there have been posts about this information, but in this post I am boldly assuming there hasn't. So here goes.

When I was in Beijing some months ago, I bought a Garmin etrex Vista HCx. My old one had been used for kayaking the entire length of Norway and many months along the Great Wall. I bought the Chinese version which had maps of China installed on it. These maps are about 700MB big.

I have taken some pictures that should give information about the maps, and also an idea of the level of detail.

My experience with the maps is good. Instead of having a big blank background, one has the reference of large and small roads. I need to zoom in to "1.2 km" in order to see the small roads. It also shows rivers and lakes of a certain size.

The other advantage is that it has an incredible amount of names of villages on it. These are all written in Chinese characters (only). If I'm out of water, at least I know where I will encounter the next village along the wall. The problem though is that it does not diffenentiate on the size of the villages untill they are pretty big. The other disadvantage is that quite a few of these villages are so small that there are no people there at all.

The Chinese characters are pretty small so asking aging shepherds if there is a shop in a certain village may be a challenge as the characters are too small for him or her to read. I have solved this a few times by taking a picture of the character, and then perviewing it in the camera and zooming in 8x. That's big enough so the can read it.

The is not perfect though. Some places I see new roads that are not on the map (Which is no big surprise of course as roads are being built at an amazing pace over here) Other times I have seen a road marked on the map that was just a dirt road (which is fine too) and once the map has indicated a road that was non existent.

When Andreas and I walked together in Shaanxi he got a copy of the map but from what I assume one needs a Chinese version of the GPS to make it work.

There are two questions I am afraid I cannot answer. I can't remember exactly how much the GPS cost, but it was about RMB 3.500, and worse - I have lost the contact information to the place I bought it. I forgot the business card at a hotel room after using it in the slot that gives electricity to the room...

If you want me to, I can check if they have the contact info on the receipt.

As a limited one time service to the honoured members of this great forum, I can take pictures of the first five requests I get. Two GPS points per (honoured) member, and I'll post them here. That should give you an idea of the level of detail for a spot you are familiar with.