Currently in China, where google maps is banned, and therefore the game cannot function as normal. There are no pokestops and no spawns. If you try to use the daily incense, it says "failed to detect location".
BUT I can still earn buddy candy, hatch eggs, and cash in finished research. The Pokemon caught or hatched this way have "Unknown" as the location, which I guess is kind of a flex. My friends are sending me gifts so at least I have something to do.
Usually the game can't even open, but l am using a VPN on roaming cellular data. Which is very expensive. All I can probably do is stay at home and let gps drift hatch my eggs. Just wanted to share how interesting it is to play this game in a country it wasn't released in.
by poopmushroom
20 Comments
ATTENTION CITIZEN! 市民请注意! This is the Central Intelligentsia of the Chinese Communist Party. () 您的 Internet 浏览器历史记录和活动引起了我们的注意 因此，您的个人资料中的 15 ( -15 Social Credits) 个社会积分将打折。You have been found playing Pokémon Go every day, i play Pokémon Go. 您的后代玩在线视频游戏超过了允许的阈值。 DO NOT DO THIS AGAIN! 不要再这样做! If you not hesitate, more Social Credits ( – Social Credits )will be subtracted from your profile, resulting in the subtraction of ration supplies. (由人民供应部重新分配 CCP) You’ll also be sent into a re-education camp in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Zone. 如果您毫不犹豫，更多的社会信用将从您的个人资料中打折，从而导致口粮供应减少。 您还将被送到新疆维吾尔自治区的再教育营。 为党争光! Glory to the PRC!
That’s what the grid was like in my area before people started submitting stops.
There’s actually quite a few countries where pogo is banned.
I’m surprised you’re even able to catch pokemon at all. When my husband was in China, he was able to do battles, but if he tried to catch the reward pokemon for the 3rd win in a set, the ‘mon would just run every time (but not dissapear; he could click on it and try again but it would just keep happening). I guess the VPN might get you around that somewhat. But yeah, it was not a pogo friendly country.
Negative Social Points for playing lol
pokemon go was banned in china, but that has nothing to do with it not working. pokemon go uses google maps, which is not a thing in china.
If you spoof to play somewhere else where google maps is a thing, it will work ((THIS IS NOT TELLING ANYONE TO SPOOF, just explaining the mechanics of google maps being the issue)). Also if you were in the couple parts of china where google maps works, the game would work fine–although probably not any pokestops or gyms.
EDIT: apparently pogo uses OSM not google maps now. That changes nothing since they will have the exact same functionality ((or lack thereof)) in china 🙂
I lost 4 years of pokemon go whilst in china 2019-2023.
But it was exciting jumping back into the game again since last August.. and Hong Kong is amazing to play
Do you get gifts from buddy pokemon? Can you send & open gifts?
That’s weird, I have pogo friends who send me gifts from stops in china. I wonder if it’s just certain areas?
That’s just sad that it is banned there
I have the same issue at work some days. One facility is a massive area of land that has entire fields of unexploded ordinance and no pokemon spawn at all. I assumed somthing was disabled and the Google maps comments sense.
I have many choice words about China and their government… however, this is the not right board for it.
That said, lol “unknown location”
Why is it banned?
Ars Technica said that Pokémon Go stopped using Google maps in 2017 so I don’t think the issues had anything to do with Google maps.
They said it now uses [OpenStreetMaps](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/05/pokemon-go-players-are-altering-public-map-data-to-catch-rare-pokemon/?comments=1)
I was in China for 10 weeks for work back in 2019, this is very familiar.
I then had to spend a night in South Korea for visa reasons and the difference was night and day.
When I was at Guangzhou, it’s just empty. I tried N times with and without VPN. But I played at ChangChun. Seems like a lot of flyman around. I occupied a gym for 2mths now.
I’m not in China, but in my country game doesn’t works either. I still don’t understand why.
Some areas do have stops and gyms as well as spawns. One of these places is Xinjiang which I visited a few months back to see family. Managed to spin a couple stops and gyms and play Chansey comm day haha. Unfortunately, I think they caught on near the end of my trip and I was unable to access the game
It’s banned in China? Why?
You can actually fully play Pokemon Go in some Chinese locations closer to the boarder using a VPN, such as Shen Yang. If you can travel there you’d be able to get some Chinese Geotagged Pokemon! Brandon Tan filmed a video on this a few years ago.
Pokemon No