An Expat's Guide to Trolling Dianping

With almost 600,000 reviewed eating establishments as of the end of last year, Dianping.com is a great way to discover new restaurants, but its all-Chinese interface can be an unfortunate barrier to hungry Mandarin-challenged expats. We're here to help. Our new "How To" series will have you plumbing the depths of the review site in no time at all.

Dianping, which means "review" in Chinese, has often been referred to as the Chinese Yelp, but, actually, it predates the US website by more than a year. Last quarter, the site attracted a whopping 600 million monthly page views. Since its launch in April 2003, the company has built out its platform, adding support for social- and location-related trends like check-ins and group-buying.

One would expect Dianping's own regularly-updated "Best of" list, which takes into account flavor, environment, service ratings, volume of reviews and number of page views, to be a good place to start our wanderings, but, in fact, the list is hardly helpful. For instance, the current top-rated restaurant, the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, lists an average per-person price of RMB 1,413. Few of us are baller enough to ever put that to the test.

Let's get you started on a more populist note. I'm sure some of you have been rolling on Dianping for years now, but for those of us who need a little help, here's a screenshot of Dianping's search page with translations in red:

One of my favorite sorting options is the "Number of reviews." It won't reveal any secret finds since it'll only show you what's popular, but it's a convenient way to get a feel for what's trending with local diners. The most-reviewed restaurant in Beijing is the Sichuan restaurant Spice Spirit (Mala Youhuo, 麻辣诱惑) with an average rating of 4 1/2 stars.

The Mudanyuan location of Haidilao Hot Pot takes second. Though the hot pot chain has been renowned for its dutiful service for years, Haidilao became a Weibo meme last year after a company representative paid a visit to a customer who had complained of food poisoning and paid her medical bills. Meanwhile, Xidan Chiku (西单翅酷), known for their wings, has attracted the third-highest number of reviews.

Lest we overwhelm you all at once, we'll leave off here for now, but you can look forward to future posts, where we'll delve deeper into the intricacies of the site. In the meantime, try playing around with the filters to see if you can dig up any hidden gems. Do let us know in the comments section if you find something worthwhile.

Photo: Wikimedia

Comments

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That's probably easier than paying for cooking lessons.

georgefefe wrote:
That said, "trolling" Dianping would involve writing bogus reviews or breaking the site in some other way. Getting the most out of Dianping = trolling? Nope.

while on the subject of "bogus", dianping does charge restaurants for placement and attention ... restaurants can buy a package that will guarantee first page placement and a flock of reviews. I know this because I know restauteurs who have paid for this in the past

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

Vegetarian goblins seeking to turn a family into vegetables to eat them. I'm sure I can find a dianping angle in that. Thanks for the tip, hehe.

Haha, right you are! Didn't read the caption. I just saw it on the main page and was expecting something different. Internet culture got the best of me. Perhaps "trolling dianping part 2" can explore this angle??? That or Troll 2?

Jakelaoshi - Thanks, great suggestion. Translate for me breaks a few of the features of the site, so I thought I'd offer up this approach for any who are interested.

Georgefefe - Very sorry for the confusion. I should have been more clear. I'm referring to trolling the fishing term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolling_%28fishing%29 (see the above photo). I find Dianping to be a great place to "fish" for new places to eat.

Jonathan Papish - We'll definitely cover the app in a future post. I'd definitely appreciate hearing any tips or tricks you have on how it's useful for you.

Dianping App for iPhone and iPad (Free!) also has a great built-in map to find hidden spots near you. Most reviews are simple and easy to understand if you have beginning to intermediate Mandarin reading skills.

I think it's worth pointing out that "trolling" is used incorrectly in the title of this post. According to Urban Dictionary, trolling is "being a pr*ck on the Internet because you can."

That said, "trolling" Dianping would involve writing bogus reviews or breaking the site in some other way. Getting the most out of Dianping = trolling? Nope.

Cheers!

Great article, dianping is a really valuable resource for finding out about your local restaurants. It's even easier if you just use google chrome and have the automatic translation setting on!