How to Find Top-Rated Local Restaurants with Dianping

View Guide → (大众点评) is China's equivalent of Yelp — the platform where Chinese locals actually go to find and review restaurants. With over 200 million reviews, it has far more coverage of local eateries than any English-language platform. Even without reading Chinese, you can use Dianping's photos and ratings to find excellent food that tourists rarely discover.

Why Dianping Over Google Maps or TripAdvisor

Google Maps and TripAdvisor show restaurants popular with tourists. Dianping shows where locals eat. The difference is significant:

• More restaurants: Dianping lists small neighborhood spots that don't appear on international platforms
• Real reviews: Millions of reviews from Chinese diners, not just tourists
• Better photos: Dish-level photos showing exactly what you'll get
• Accurate ratings: A 4.5+ rating on Dianping is genuinely excellent — the bar is high

Finding Restaurants Near You

1. 1. Open Dianping and allow location access

   Open the app and grant location permission when prompted. The home screen shows restaurants near your current location. If you're not in China yet, you can search by city name.

2. 2. Browse the restaurant listings

   The main feed shows nearby restaurants sorted by popularity. Each listing shows the restaurant name, cuisine type, average price per person (人均, rén jūn), overall rating (out of 5), and a photo. Scroll to browse.

3. 3. Filter by cuisine or category

   Tap the category tabs at the top (火锅 = hotpot, 日料 = Japanese, 西餐 = Western, etc.) to filter by cuisine type. Tap 筛选 (filter) to sort by rating, price, or distance.

4. 4. Open a restaurant listing

   Tap any restaurant to see its full profile: photos, menu items with prices, all reviews, and the address. The photo section is especially useful — browse dish photos to see what looks good before deciding.

Reading a Restaurant Listing

Even without Chinese, you can extract key information from a Dianping listing:

• Rating: The number out of 5 stars. Anything above 4.5 is excellent. Most good restaurants are 4.0–4.5.
• 人均 (rén jūn): Average spend per person in CNY. ¥30–50 is budget, ¥80–150 is mid-range, ¥200+ is upscale.
• Photos: Tap the photo section to see dish photos. Look for dishes that appear frequently — those are the popular orders.
• Reviews: Even if you can't read them, look at the star distribution. A restaurant with mostly 5-star reviews and a few 1-stars is better than one with all 3-stars.
• Address: The address is in Chinese. Screenshot it and show it to your hotel concierge or taxi driver.

Searching for a Specific Restaurant

If you've heard about a specific restaurant by name:

1. 1. Tap the search bar at the top

   Tap the search icon or bar at the top of the screen.

2. 2. Type the restaurant name

   Type the name in English or Chinese. Dianping's search handles both. If you have the Chinese name (from a recommendation or article), paste it in for more accurate results.

3. 3. Select from results

   Results show the restaurant name, location, and rating. If multiple branches exist, check the address to find the one nearest to you.

Practical Tips

• Check opening hours: Look for 营业时间 (yíngyè shíjiān) in the listing. Many popular restaurants close between lunch and dinner service (roughly 2pm–5pm).
• Queue times: Popular restaurants often have queues. Look for 排队 (páiduì) information in the listing — some show estimated wait times.
• Price range: The 人均 figure is an average. Ordering popular dishes and drinks can push you above it.
• Distance: The distance shown is straight-line, not walking distance. Use Amap for actual navigation once you've chosen a restaurant.
• Save favorites: Tap the bookmark icon on any listing to save it. Build a list of restaurants to try before you arrive in a new city.