How to Scrape and Visualize Your WeChat Friends’ Locations with Python

Using the itchat library, you can programmatically access WeChat friends' basic profile data, including province and city. After installing itchat, run the script to generate a QR code, scan it with your phone, authorize the login, and load the contact list.

Once logged in, the script prints each friend's province information. The output can be saved to a text file for further analysis.

The console also displays red messages prompting you to scan the QR code, confirm authorization, and load the address book—these messages are normal and can be ignored.

After saving the printed data, you can see that most friends are located in China, with Liaoning, Guangdong, and Hunan provinces having the highest counts. A simple province‑wise chart reveals the distribution, while a map visualization highlights the regions with deeper colors.

Next, the script can be extended to fetch each friend's city. The resulting city list shows that Dalian, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hengyang, and Changsha are the most common locations among the contacts.

Saving the city data to a text file makes it easy to review the distribution and optionally create a geographic heat map for further insight.

By aggregating the city statistics, you can generate a map visualization to better understand the geographic spread of your WeChat contacts.