China (Country Guide) |  | Authors: David Eimer, Damian Harper, Daisy Harper, Carolyn Heller, Thomas Huhti, Robert Kelly, Daniel Mccrohan, Christopher Pitts, Andrew Stone, Chung Wah Chow
Brand: Lonely Planet
Category: Book
List Price: $31.99
Buy New: $19.99
as of 9/5/2010 15:26 CDT details
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Seller: sbd-
Rating:  80 reviews
Sales Rank: 10,737
Media: Paperback
Edition: 11th Revised edition
Pages: 1032
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.7
MPN: PRD_2181
ISBN: 1741048664
Dewey Decimal Number: 915.1046
EAN: 9781741048667
ASIN: 1741048664
Publication Date: May 1, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
China is changing at the speed of light - and now, in this cusp between centuries of tradition and almost time-lapse development, is the time to see it...
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 80
 A good review of LP. November 23, 2004
J. Shaw (Australia)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
I arrived home from China 2 weeks ago after being there for 2 weeks. I visited the most amazing places, and yes, I took the most recent LP with me. Alot of reviewers here have stated the lack of important information in this publication, however, I found this book to be valuble on my journey. China is a tough place to travel, English isnt spoken in most places and the general public (outside of those who deal with tourists often) are not a particularly friendly bunch to westerners. In reading this guide, you must take into account that it ISNT a tour guide, it is simply a reference to sites and popular places. I found the Chinese text to be very helpful when using taxi's. China is an ever changing place, and if you have ever been there, you will know how vast it really is. A mecca of laneways and confusing streets. LP was an invaluble read for me and I would recommend this guide for those who are imbarking on thier first trip to this wonderful place.
As a well travelled person, I have used LP many times in different places, I think some people forget to step outside the book and just find things on their own will...
Am I missing something? July 7, 2006
Charles E. Stevens
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Having just returned from a trip in China with the Lonely Planet book as my only guide, I am a bit mystified by the generally negative reviews and complaints about minor points. Is this book perfect? Of course not. Any attempt to fit all of a country (especially one as large as China) into one book will inevitably fall short. Yet, LP packs more info into 1000 pages than most other tour books combined. Another complaint is that it is not necessarily up-to-date. Of course it isn't. Anything put in print about a country changing as fast as China is out of date the moment it hits the bookstands. It should be a given that an attraction with an entrance fee of Y50 today will likely be Y100 tomorrow. Ask yourself though: does it really matter? Are you really going to skip the Forbidden City because the entrance fee is Y20 higher than published? No, of course not.
The LP has much to recommend it. Here are the highlights:
-excellent maps with accurate scale and bilingual markers
-good breadth without sacrificing too much depth
-great for people who want to leave the tour groups and package tours behind (it's much cheaper to go solo!)
-a good selection of restaurants and hotels in different price ranges
-good descriptions of main attractions and how to get to them
-a pretty good language section with some of the survival words and phrases you will need
Above all, I can give this tour book no greater compliment than the following sentiment: if you are traveling to China and bring only one book, THIS IS THE ONE. Do not be put off by the negative reviews that harp on minor and often irrelevant points. My advice is the same for anyone who travels to China or any other country: do your homework before going. The internet is a great start, as are books that might give a better overview of issues such as language, culture, politics, and other fields that can only receive cursory treatment in a travel book already bursting at the seams of its 1000 pages. But, the point is that when you're on the ground in China, this is the book that you want as your traveling companion. That's why it gets 5 stars in my book!
Fine, No Problem, What More Could You Want? October 25, 2007
T. Parfitt (Taipei, Taiwan)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
I spent over over two months traveling around China and this is the book that I took with me. Besides the fact that the map at the front isn't very good and that in a couple of remote places (the North Korean border town of Dandong, for example) the street maps weren't entirely accurate (a problem in China given that local people usually don't even know the name of the street on which they work) I found this to be a great book. Really. It was fine. It did the trick. No problems. I subjected it to quite a lot of wear and tear and it's still togther and looking good. I cannot, for the life of me, understand some of the negative reviews here.
One says there's no Chinese in the book. I'm looking at the Chinese in the book right now. In addition to place names, food items, and so on and so forth, there's an entire section of it for pity's sake (although, to be fair, it has been cleverly disguised as "Languages"). Another critic claims that the volume doesn't contain any useful travel information, a kind of miracle when you consider that it's nearly a 1000 pages long and positively teeming with the sections 'Sights,' 'Sleeping,' 'Getting There and Away,' 'Getting Around,' 'To and from the airport,' 'Maps,' etc.
Despite the LP formula, quality can vary from writer to writer and book to book and some writers are bent on plugging the hum drum (lest the potential buyer think the country is rubbish and return the book to its spot on the shelf), but not in this case. Perhaps there are a few minor glitches here and there but in a tome of this size there are bound to be. Basically, you arrive at a place, check into a recommended hotel, take a look at the 'Sights' section and off you go. Book your onward ticket from your hotel's in-house travel agency, which is easy to find as it's usually the same counter or the one next to your hotel's in-house "massage center."
One more thing: if you are using this guide book in China, you may want to consider tearing out the map in the front. I ran into three people who had their Lonely Planets confiscated by officials because it didn't include Taiwan. Each person was given a little geography lesson before having their (rather expensive) book taken away from them ("Do you see this troublesome little island here? The one with more than a thousand missiles aimed at it? To whom does it belong?"). The reason why this can be problematic is that you rarely see English travel guides (even second hand ones) in China, except for major cities like Shanghai and Beijing. I ran into a nice Danish couple who had their Lonely Planet taken away and hence they had to waste valuable time searching around for a new one. It was their first time to China and they hadn't the faintest idea as to where or what Taiwan was. But, of course, they do now. No matter which book you decide on, enjoy your travels in China. It's certainly a fascinating place.
Troy Parfitt, author
THE SWISS ARMY KNIFE OF GUIDEBOOKS!!! June 21, 2001
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
the reviewer from ottowa, ontario canada was way off. this book is the swiss army knife of practical knowledge concerning how to survive, get around, and even have a great time in the massively complex and ever-changing world that is china. granted, the book has a cheeky, irreverant air to it, but believe me when i say this humor came as a great psychological boost at times. i know, i travelled extensively in china for 1 year and also lived in shanghai. i went there speaking no chinese at all and managed to learn to speak passably well by the time i had to leave. let's be realistic; it is impossible to fit all of china into 1 book. shanghai alone could fill a book this size, but what lonely planet sacrifices in up-to-the-minute nightlife coverage in major cities (this purpose is served far better by english city mags) and historical information (not to mention pretty pictures) it more than makes up for with it's sheer volume of practical information from all over china. how to get to, tour, eat, sleep, and even attempt to get off the beaten track (becoming really hard in china) at any location in this massive country. i sincerely believe it would take a lifetime for a single individual to compile this much information. this book isn't perfect, some info is out-of-date, but if you're going to china, it is indispensible.
GREAT BOOK TO PLANNING YOUR TRIP June 22, 2006
Carolina Hernandez Diaz (Santiago, Chile)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I bougth this book following the advice of a friend.
He travelled to China few years ago, he doesn't speak chinese and he survived almost five months visiting almost all China and Tibet, with just this book and a lonely planet phrase book.
With this book he got greats and cheap hotels in the biggest cities of China.-
I've been reading this book to prepare my trip to China next January, and this book is an excelent guide.
You can find detailed information about optimal routes, hotels, attractions, how you get there, how can you save money, what you must go in each city (and includes almost every little town in China), where can you find information in english or other languages,where is nice to walk, and a lot more.
Has something extremely useful, every place has the name in English and Chinese (Pinyin and symbols). Another friend who visited China told me that the most important thing in you want to use a taxi in China.
There are 2 points that could be improved. First: A lot of information, but just a few pictures. Second: Is heavy, not too much, but heavy enough to hated it after a few days in your backpack in China. Another friend leaved it China after a few days.
Well, i will improve this review after use this book in China.
Sorry about my english skills , i just speak spanish and a little bit of chinese.
From the South of the world
Carolina
Showing reviews 1-5 of 80
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