These Google features aren't banned - here's how to find them

We may have said it before, but in case you're currently unaware, we're here to tell you that Google Translate and Google Maps are, in fact, available on the Mainland.

What's the catch, you ask? There isn't one - simply change .com to .cn to access these services as you would outside of China.

The all-important URLs you need are translate.google.cn and maps.google.cn.

Voila.

A few things to be aware of: the language is Chinese only, so some basic knowledge of Chinese will be helpful if it isn't going to be a walk in the dark. English is 英语 and Chinese is 中文.  For Maps, pinyin should work fine.

Some features are also missing, such as the on-screen handwriting input for Translate, and because Google is banned from taking land images in China, Maps does not have street view and has considerable inaccuracies with regards to roads and locations.

Aside from your VPN-on Google, Baidu's Translate and Maps may be better options in many instances. Find those at fanyi.baidu.com and map.baidu.com.

If you're still wondering when the full Google experience will be available here in China, there's hope. There has been talk that Google might return by the end of the year. No guarantees on that one though. Keep surfing and praying. (づ◕‿◕｡)づ

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