All road signs have pinyin (Romanised pinyin). The usefulness is limited as it lacks tones, but is something you can get used to. GPS is in everything. So ha

All road signs have pinyin (Romanised pinyin). The usefulness is limited as it lacks tones, but is something you can get used to. GPS is in everything. So hailing a taxi via an app is a not huge issue largely. And wherever you go you can use Baidu maps to tell you where you are vs. where you need to be. Subways are fine for an English speaker, as long as you know where you're going and check the interchange. Rush hours may be a little crowded. As long as you've done your research where you want to go, you should be OK. Wouldn't do it with family until getting used to doing so for a few days. eChinaCities should be avoided as their despite their Google et al search listings being very high, are mainly paid content. Find a website local for the city, e.g. is in Beijing then thebeijinger.com should be fine. Do not follow someone with good English pretending to take you somewhere like a tea shop, restaurant or art gallery, or really anywhere. Don't say the nation you're from, just be assertive in refusal. Have been in China for a few years in a few cities, mainly north.