Integrating Tianditu Map Service with Java: Reverse Geocoding, Nearby Search, and Coordinate Conversion

Introduction

In the digital age, map services are essential for navigation, location sharing, and business analysis, but high‑quality services often incur significant licensing fees. To reduce costs, the company switched from a domestic paid map provider to the free Tianditu service.

Tianditu Overview

Tianditu (http://lbs.tianditu.gov.cn/server/guide.html) is a leading Chinese online map platform offering free APIs for geocoding, reverse geocoding, nearby search, and more, which meets the project's requirements.

Implementation Code

The integration involves several Java methods that call Tianditu’s REST APIs.

Reverse Geocoding

Converts latitude and longitude to a readable address using the following code:

public static MapLocation reverseGeocode(String longitude, String latitude) {
Request request = new Request();
LocateInfo locateInfo = GCJ02_WGS84Utils.gcj02_To_Wgs84(Double.valueOf(latitude), Double.valueOf(longitude));
longitude = String.valueOf(locateInfo.getLongitude());
latitude = String.valueOf(locateInfo.getLatitude());
String postStr = String.format(REVERSE_GEOCODE_POST_STR, longitude, latitude);
String encodedPostStr = null;
try {
encodedPostStr = URLEncoder.encode(postStr, "UTF-8");
} catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
String url = REVERSE_GEOCODE_URL + "?tk=" + TK + "&type=" + GEOCODE + "&postStr=" + encodedPostStr;
request.setUrl(url);
Response<String> response = HttpClientHelper.getWithoutUserAgent(request, null);
if (response.getSuccess()) {
String body = response.getBody();
JSONObject jsonObject = JSON.parseObject(body);
String status = jsonObject.getString("status");
if (!"0".equals(status)) {
return null;
}
JSONObject resultObject = jsonObject.getJSONObject("result");
MapLocation mapLocation = new MapLocation();
String formattedAddress = resultObject.getString("formatted_address");
mapLocation.setAddress(formattedAddress);
String locationStr = resultObject.getString("location");
JSONObject location = JSON.parseObject(locationStr);
String lon = location.getString("lon");
String lat = location.getString("lat");
locateInfo = GCJ02_WGS84Utils.wgs84_To_Gcj02(Double.valueOf(lat), Double.valueOf(lon));
lon = String.valueOf(locateInfo.getLongitude());
lat = String.valueOf(locateInfo.getLatitude());
mapLocation.setLongitude(lon);
mapLocation.setLatitude(lat);
JSONObject addressComponent = resultObject.getJSONObject("addressComponent");
String address = addressComponent.getString("address");
mapLocation.setName(address);
mapLocation.setCity(addressComponent.getString("city"));
return mapLocation;
}
return null;
}

Nearby Search

Finds points of interest around a location using this method:

public static List<MapLocation> nearbySearch(String query, String longitude, String latitude, String radius) {
LocateInfo locateInfo = GCJ02_WGS84Utils.gcj02_To_Wgs84(Double.valueOf(latitude), Double.valueOf(longitude));
longitude = String.valueOf(locateInfo.getLongitude());
latitude = String.valueOf(locateInfo.getLatitude());
Request request = new Request();
String longLat = longitude + "," + latitude;
String postStr = String.format(NEARBY_SEARCH_POST_STR, query, Integer.valueOf(radius), longLat);
String encodedPostStr = null;
try {
encodedPostStr = URLEncoder.encode(postStr, "UTF-8");
} catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
String url = SEARCH_URL + "?tk=" + TK + "&type=" + QUERY + "&postStr=" + encodedPostStr;
request.setUrl(url);
Response<String> response = HttpClientHelper.getWithoutUserAgent(request, null);
List<MapLocation> list = new ArrayList<>();
if (response.getSuccess()) {
String body = response.getBody();
JSONObject jsonObject = JSON.parseObject(body);
JSONObject statusObject = jsonObject.getJSONObject("status");
String infoCode = statusObject.getString("infocode");
if (!"1000".equals(infoCode)) {
return new ArrayList<>();
}
String resultType = jsonObject.getString("resultType");
String count = jsonObject.getString("count");
if (!"1".equals(resultType) || "0".equals(count)) {
return new ArrayList<>();
}
JSONArray poisArray = jsonObject.getJSONArray("pois");
for (int i = 0; i < poisArray.size(); i++) {
JSONObject poiObject = poisArray.getJSONObject(i);
MapLocation mapLocation = new MapLocation();
mapLocation.setName(poiObject.getString("name"));
mapLocation.setAddress(poiObject.getString("address"));
String lonlat = poiObject.getString("lonlat");
String[] lonlatArr = lonlat.split(",");
locateInfo = GCJ02_WGS84Utils.wgs84_To_Gcj02(Double.valueOf(lonlatArr[1]), Double.valueOf(lonlatArr[0]));
String lon = String.valueOf(locateInfo.getLongitude());
String lat = String.valueOf(locateInfo.getLatitude());
mapLocation.setLongitude(lon);
mapLocation.setLatitude(lat);
list.add(mapLocation);
}
}
return list;
}

Text Search

Searches locations by keyword with this implementation:

public static List<MapLocation> searchByText(String query, String mapBound) {
Request request = new Request();
String postStr = String.format(SEARCH_BY_TEXT_POST_STR, query, mapBound);
String encodedPostStr = null;
try {
encodedPostStr = URLEncoder.encode(postStr, "UTF-8");
} catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
String url = SEARCH_URL + "?tk=" + TK + "&type=" + QUERY + "&postStr=" + encodedPostStr;
request.setUrl(url);
Response<String> response = HttpClientHelper.getWithoutUserAgent(request, null);
List<MapLocation> list = new ArrayList<>();
if (response.getSuccess()) {
String body = response.getBody();
JSONObject jsonObject = JSON.parseObject(body);
JSONObject statusObject = jsonObject.getJSONObject("status");
String infoCode = statusObject.getString("infocode");
if (!"1000".equals(infoCode)) {
return new ArrayList<>();
}
String resultType = jsonObject.getString("resultType");
String count = jsonObject.getString("count");
if (!"1".equals(resultType) || "0".equals(count)) {
return new ArrayList<>();
}
JSONArray poisArray = jsonObject.getJSONArray("pois");
for (int i = 0; i < poisArray.size(); i++) {
JSONObject poiObject = poisArray.getJSONObject(i);
MapLocation mapLocation = new MapLocation();
mapLocation.setName(poiObject.getString("name"));
mapLocation.setAddress(poiObject.getString("address"));
String lonlat = poiObject.getString("lonlat");
String[] lonlatArr = lonlat.split(",");
LocateInfo locateInfo = GCJ02_WGS84Utils.wgs84_To_Gcj02(Double.valueOf(lonlatArr[1]), Double.valueOf(lonlatArr[0]));
String lon = String.valueOf(locateInfo.getLongitude());
String lat = String.valueOf(locateInfo.getLatitude());
mapLocation.setLongitude(lon);
mapLocation.setLatitude(lat);
list.add(mapLocation);
}
}
return list;
}

Coordinate System Conversion

Tianditu uses WGS‑84 while many Chinese services use GCJ‑02; the following utility class handles conversions:

/**
* WGS-84: international GPS coordinates
* GCJ-02: Chinese offset standard used by Gaode, Tencent, etc.
* BD-09: Baidu offset standard
*/
public class GCJ02_WGS84Utils {
public static double pi = 3.1415926535897932384626;
public static double a = 6378245.0;
public static double ee = 0.00669342162296594323;
public static LocateInfo wgs84_To_Gcj02(double lat, double lon) {
LocateInfo info = new LocateInfo();
if (isOutOfChina(lat, lon)) {
info.setChina(false);
info.setLatitude(lat);
info.setLongitude(lon);
} else {
double dLat = transformLat(lon - 105.0, lat - 35.0);
double dLon = transformLon(lon - 105.0, lat - 35.0);
double radLat = lat / 180.0 * pi;
double magic = Math.sin(radLat);
magic = 1 - ee * magic * magic;
double sqrtMagic = Math.sqrt(magic);
dLat = (dLat * 180.0) / ((a * (1 - ee)) / (magic * sqrtMagic) * pi);
dLon = (dLon * 180.0) / (a / sqrtMagic * Math.cos(radLat) * pi);
double mgLat = lat + dLat;
double mgLon = lon + dLon;
info.setChina(true);
info.setLatitude(mgLat);
info.setLongitude(mgLon);
}
return info;
}
public static LocateInfo gcj02_To_Wgs84(double lat, double lon) {
LocateInfo info = new LocateInfo();
LocateInfo gps = transform(lat, lon);
double lontitude = lon * 2 - gps.getLongitude();
double latitude = lat * 2 - gps.getLatitude();
info.setChina(gps.isChina());
info.setLatitude(latitude);
info.setLongitude(lontitude);
return info;
}
private static boolean isOutOfChina(double lat, double lon) {
if (lon < 72.004 || lon > 137.8347) return true;
if (lat < 0.8293 || lat > 55.8271) return true;
return false;
}
private static LocateInfo transform(double lat, double lon) {
LocateInfo info = new LocateInfo();
if (isOutOfChina(lat, lon)) {
info.setChina(false);
info.setLatitude(lat);
info.setLongitude(lon);
return info;
}
double dLat = transformLat(lon - 105.0, lat - 35.0);
double dLon = transformLon(lon - 105.0, lat - 35.0);
double radLat = lat / 180.0 * pi;
double magic = Math.sin(radLat);
magic = 1 - ee * magic * magic;
double sqrtMagic = Math.sqrt(magic);
dLat = (dLat * 180.0) / ((a * (1 - ee)) / (magic * sqrtMagic) * pi);
dLon = (dLon * 180.0) / (a / sqrtMagic * Math.cos(radLat) * pi);
double mgLat = lat + dLat;
double mgLon = lon + dLon;
info.setChina(true);
info.setLatitude(mgLat);
info.setLongitude(mgLon);
return info;
}
private static double transformLat(double x, double y) {
double ret = -100.0 + 2.0 * x + 3.0 * y + 0.2 * y * y + 0.1 * x * y + 0.2 * Math.sqrt(Math.abs(x));
ret += (20.0 * Math.sin(6.0 * x * pi) + 20.0 * Math.sin(2.0 * x * pi)) * 2.0 / 3.0;
ret += (20.0 * Math.sin(y * pi) + 40.0 * Math.sin(y / 3.0 * pi)) * 2.0 / 3.0;
ret += (160.0 * Math.sin(y / 12.0 * pi) + 320 * Math.sin(y * pi / 30.0)) * 2.0 / 3.0;
return ret;
}
private static double transformLon(double x, double y) {
double ret = 300.0 + x + 2.0 * y + 0.1 * x * x + 0.1 * x * y + 0.1 * Math.sqrt(Math.abs(x));
ret += (20.0 * Math.sin(6.0 * x * pi) + 20.0 * Math.sin(2.0 * x * pi)) * 2.0 / 3.0;
ret += (20.0 * Math.sin(x * pi) + 40.0 * Math.sin(x / 3.0 * pi)) * 2.0 / 3.0;
ret += (150.0 * Math.sin(x / 12.0 * pi) + 300.0 * Math.sin(x / 30.0 * pi)) * 2.0 / 3.0;
return ret;
}
}

Conclusion

The provided code successfully integrates Tianditu into the system, meeting functional needs while significantly lowering costs, and deepens the team's understanding of map services and related technologies.

Precautions

Ensure compliance with Tianditu’s service terms, especially for commercial use.

Be aware of possible latency or instability of the Tianditu API and implement robust error handling and fallback strategies.

Coordinate conversion is complex; use reliable algorithms to maintain positioning accuracy.

By adopting this integration, the company saved expenses, improved system stability, and enhanced user experience, paving the way for future cost‑effective technical solutions.