Dianping is a website and mobile app that is part of a larger conglomerate called Meituan-Dianping (may-too-an dee-an pee-ng), a Chinese retail service and consumer products business. When I lived in Shanghai before going off to the US for college, I used this app almost every day, and it is still probably one of my favorite apps, trumping Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Being a self-proclaimed foodie, I found that Dianping was the perfect app to use for finding new restaurants that I wanted to try, to discover new interesting dishes and drinks, and to order food or buy movie tickets with no hassle. Whenever I was bored, I would look through the latest news about popular restaurants and food, or I would scroll through the endless lists of discounts and deals at restaurants.
What Exactly is the Dianping App?
Maybe the more appropriate question is: what isn't the Dianping App? It's one of the most comprehensive apps out there. The app includes a series of functions that are similar to Yelp, Tasty, Airbnb, Fandango, and Expedia, all wrapped into one wonderful app available through the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
Note: Unfortunately, the whole Dianping app is in Chinese and there is no English version, so I took the liberty of translating it to the best of my ability in order to illustrate how cool this app really is.
Home Page of the Dianping App
When you first open the Dianping app, the top of the home page will show a menu of Dianping's different functions. For example, you can look at different restaurants and special food items if you click on the "Food" button, or you can buy tickets for movies and performances if you press that respective button. The app will use location services to determine your city, and then it calibrates to show you the relevant services and products in your area. You can also book hotels, look at leisure and entertainment options in the city you're currently in, order takeout or delivery from restaurants that are nearby, and explore a variety of stores and shopping in your city.
If you swipe right on the menu list, more options will appear, including economy hotels (which are cheaper hotels similar to American motels), karaoke places, fitness centers, bars, studying services (like SAT or ACT prep), etc.
If you look a little bit lower on the home page, you'll see different buttons that show lists of popular foods, or special deals and discounts at restaurants. You can also look at vacation rentals, which is similar to Airbnb, where you rent a home for a period of time if you're on vacation or just looking for a cheap, cozy place to stay. Dianping will also have special events every so often, and in this case, Dianping was showing an event that translates to "Foodie Festival" where the app shows super high discounts and great deals at famous, highly-rated restaurants.
Lastly, at the very bottom of the home page, you can scroll through the latest comments on restaurants and stores or go to different pages of the app. The "Explore" page shows a long list of similar comments and news about food and restaurants, where you can also subscribe to other users and get updates from their pages. The "Video" page is also similar but all of the news about stores is put in the format of a video. The "Footprint" page is super unique in that it shows you popular news or restaurants or stores that are recommended for you based on your search history. Lastly, the "My Account" page is pretty explanatory. It just contains your user information, any messages from the system or coupons, deals, and discounts that are linked to your account.
Looking at Food on Dianping
The Dianping app's main function is looking at food, which is also my personal favorite function, so it's worth looking at in detail. If you were to search up a restaurant and click on one that you're interested in, the page that shows up will look like this:
The information that the Dianping app offers about the restaurant includes the type of cuisine it serves, the average amount of money spent per person at the restaurant, ratings for taste and environment and service, tags that help describe the restaurant, and the location. All restaurants will also show pictures of their menu items, which can either be uploaded by the restaurant themselves or by users that have visited before.
If you scroll down a little bit further, the app will tell you location of the restaurant, usually including the street number, the building, and the floor that it is on. Directly below the location, it will also tell you how far away the closest subway stop is and what the closest subway stop is because public transportation is the most common way of getting around in China. Some restaurants will also offer an option to make a reservation on the app or an option to order takeout, but the app will offer an option to call a taxi to the restaurant. Also, most restaurants will advertise deals, some of which are only available through the Dianping app. Lastly, Dianping will show if restaurants are ranked highly on a list of popularity, service, taste, etc.
One of my favorite parts of looking at restaurants on the Dianping app is that it shows dishes that are recommended by the restaurant itself and dishes that are recommended by Dianping users.
At the very end of the restaurant information list is a long column of comments from app users reflecting on their experiencing at the restaurant to give other users a better idea of what is good or bad about it. At the very bottom of the screen are options to sign in (which shows that you're eating at this particular restaurant), record video (which can be uploaded to the app), upload photos (which can be added to the photos that were taken at this restaurant), or write a review about the restaurant.
Looking at Shops on Dianping
One of my other favorite things to do on Dianping is explore shopping areas. If you look up a shopping mall on Dianping, there will be a page showing its location and ratings on facilities, environment, and service. It also shows the mall's rankings in terms of popularity or in terms of good restaurants located within the mall. If you have concerns about facilities, the app shows information about what facilities and services are offered and specifies mall hours.
Along with the location and the phone number to contact the shopping mall, the Dianping app also shows the nearest subway station and offers a list of brands and restaurants that are located in the shopping mall.
There are so many other functions to Dianping, but food and shopping are the main ones that Chinese locals enjoy using. Dianping provides so much information about restaurants and makes it so much easier to find restaurants, explore popular foods, and plan a visit to a restaurant. Sadly, Dianping isn't offered in English and American areas aren't shown as comprehensively as Chinese cities are, but the next time you're planning a visit to China or if you're thinking about moving to China, Dianping is definitely worth downloading.