Thursday, August 07, 2008

Beijing Google Maps Mash-Ups

Last week Google updated the satellite imagery for Beijing. This week Google have added road maps to Beijing and Shanghai (thanks Google Earth Blog). Google Maps have also added driving directions for both Shanghai and Beijing in Ditu (the Chinese version of Google Maps), so there is no reason for any of the athletes to get lost on the way to the stadium. Today Google have also added a number of new 3D buildings of the venues in Beijing to Google Earth.

With the Olympic Games due to start in Beijing tomorrow this is your last chance to familiarise yourself with the city and the amazing venues that have been built to host the games. Here are a few Google Maps mash-ups dedicated to Beijing and the Olympic Games.

2008 Olympic Venues (broken link removed)
This mash-up from Earth Swoop shows a number of the Olympic venues in stunning 3D using the Google Earth browser plug-in.

Beijing Olympics Venues Map (broken link removed)

This is my attempt at creating a mash-up of YouTube videos of the Beijing Olympic venues with the Google Earth browser.

Beijing Live Music (broken link removed)

This is map showing venues in Beijing that play live music. The venues are grouped into categories; rock, bar, jazz and classic. Clicking on a tag opens an information window that shows the venue's name and address.

Worldflicks
The Worldflicks map shows Flickr photos and Youtube videos from the Beijing National Stadium on a Google Map satellite view of the stadium.

Some Other China Maps
A few sites on the web are cataloguing interesting sights and views that can be found in China.

GoogleSightseeing.com - China - GoogleSightseeing tells you the stories behind the satellite imagery on Google Maps. This link will take you to all posts labeled with China by the bloggers at GoogleSightseeing.com





Wikimapia - China - Wikimapia is a unique, user-driven Google Maps explorer that allows you to view annotations of satellite imagery. Click the boxes on the map to read wiki-style descriptions. Be sure to zoom right in to see what the description is about and if you have something to add or would like to add your own wiki-descriptions for China go for it! Wikimapia is a great way to explore and learn more about the geography of China.
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3 comments:

  1. smokeonit9:20 PM

    the problem with china and google maps is that the maps are approx. 400-500m east to the sat footage!

    and it's not just beijing and shanghai that has gotten map coverage, it's all of china! but as is said, the offset to the sat footage is huge!!!

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  2. Anonymous6:24 AM

    I also noticed an offset. So which one is correct, the map or the satellite image? There should be a way to compensate for the offset using Google Map API?

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  3. Anonymous5:02 AM

    I have wondered which was correct for ages, and just finally got around to testing it these last few days. Tested by plotting known locations with GPS around Beijing, then comparing them to their street addresses and satellite imagery. The satellite imagery used in Google Earth is correct; the maps are offset quite significantly. Hopefully someone will get around to fixing the maps data relatively soon...

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