Reviews (1)

Much Ado About Nothing...
I bought this book for a trip to Bejing and Shanghai - and was quite disappointed. There is nothing in it that is not in other guidebooks. Several of the recommendations were hyped. And the attitude - snobby, awful. I'd suggest the Luxe guides, which not only tell you where to shop but also suggest places to eat, to drink, etc. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Commerce    3. Consumer Buying Guides    4. Europe - France    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel Guides    8. China    9. Consumer guides & advice    10. Hong Kong    11. Travel / Asia / China   

Reviews (5)

Fabulous!
What a fabulous guide! With detailed maps, witty observations and destinations to keep even the most jaded traveller interested (eunuch's cemetery anyone?) its almost as good as having your own personal guide.

Why did the authors bother to go?
I have depended on Frommer's guides for more than 2 decades so this was the guide I initially picked before going to Beijing.Most of the hotel and restaurant info were accurate if not obvious (lacking the usual Frommer gems).The major sights were also described in adequate detail.However, the authors' unrelenting snide remarks of the Chinese people, culture, government and seemingly everything else to do with the place, make me wonder if they should be relied on to guide me to Beijing.At the end, these personal remarks told me a lot more about Mr. Neville-Hadley than I really cared to know.

Simply brilliant
I've just seen Ms Petersen's review below, and I really doubt she possesses a copy of this guide. There are map references for the sight listings, straight after the address for every sight. There are no characters for locations given in the back of the book, they are in the map keys, under the pinyin names. The map keys are next to the maps. The maps -last time I looked - are in the middle of the book, in Chapter 6.
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Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. China    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Asia / China   

Reviews (9)

Doesn't tell you the whole truth about Beijing
If you go the largest imported books bookstore in Beijing, which is located in Wangfujing, and grab this title from the shelves, you will find that several paragraphs in the book have been covered with a white paper strip: my own educated guess is that one probably dealt with Beijing's traffic congestion and the other with a certain bloody episode which happened on Tian'anmen Square in 1989. Missing major component
The information is good but there are no Chinese characters of locations/names to show to taxi drivers.The pronunciations are just too difficult for some one not adept at languages or who has not studied some Chinese.I have taken over a dozen trips to China and find books with Chinese characters far more useful.

So much to see, so little time...
Since I was on a guided tour, I used the book mainly to familiarize myself with the various sights and sounds. I agree with other reviewers who mentioned that some areas of the book are being outdated by the fast development of Beijing. Overall, the book is well put together and would have been useful if I had done more on my own. Would not hesitate to pick up a revised edition on my next trip to Beijing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. China    5. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (1)

Best Map of Beijing Money Can Buy
I moved to Beijing from the USA and was looking everywhere for a great map. This is the best map by far... bar none.If you need a map that shows tourist areas, business centers, driving directions, etc.... this is the most comprehensive one available.Plus, it is in English! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Asia - General    3. Maps & Road Atlases    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. China    7. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (1)

A little too compact, perhaps. . .
Perhaps I have to chalk it up to my nearly-fifty-year-old eyes, but this guidebook is virtually impossible to use without a magnifying glass.Every time I read a review that harps point size I usually take it with the proverbial grain of salt, but this one really is very difficult to use.The maps of Beijing are even worse than the text, as the captions are printed in colors that do not stand out from the background.I thought this would be a nice little pocketbook to carry, that would fulfill both guidebook and map requirements, but in the latter case, it just isn't useful at all!
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Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. China    6. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel / Asia / China   

Reviews (3)

Great maps
Even my sister, an x-pat living in Beijing, was impressed with the maps in this book. She said they were better than any maps she'd been able to find in-country. We still did get lost a couple of times, but overall managed very well. Also, the small list of English/Pinyin/Character words in the back came in very handy when we needed to buy a phonecard and no one understood our feeble attempts at spoken Chinese.

Must-Have if you go to Beijing
This book was great--I don't know how we would have managed without it--it gives great, accurate information about places to go (not the nightclubs though), had great maps. We went to some of the most amazing restaurants that we would never have been able to find if not for the really detailed directions in the book (for example, this famous, but out-of-the-way roast duck restaurant hidden in the depths of the hutongs at Qianmen.) The maps were very useful, especially to show taxi drivers where you want to go, though you have to read the pinyin names to them since they can't read english. But definitely, you can't go wrong in Beijing with this book.

Reliable, Up-to-Date, Far Better than Lonely Planet
If you plan to go to Beijing and you don't speak Mandarin,Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. China    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Asia / China   

Reviews (5)

Condescending, racist, out of date
Gershman's entries for Shanghai--a place that's truly heaven for shoppers--were awful. The places she recommended were tourist traps, her comments were perfunctory, and her information was woefully out of date (not by one year, but by several). There wasn't one valid tip in that entire section of the book. Hey, if she doesn't like shopping, eating in Shanghai or staying there, then why is someone forcing her to write a book on it. Of the five guides I bought before traveling there, this is far and away the worst!

Not ideal for true shoppers
A bunch of my girlfriends and I live in Hong Kong and are serious shoppers in Asia. We found this book to be outdated, commercialized and definitely not clued in to where the best shopping lies, particularly for Shanghai and Beijing. There are so many wonderful boutiques which were not included. You are likely to get the same information from the local hotel concierge if not more.

out of date and incorrect
Advice given regards places and items was either out of date orjust plain wrong. China, especially in cities likeBeijing and Shanghai, is changing so fast I suggest using only guides with current year copyright dates. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Consumer Buying Guides    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel Guides    6. China    7. Retail sector    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Asia / China   

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. China    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Asia / China   

Reviews (23)

This is the worst piece of trash- do not waste your money
I really had to laugh reading the other lengthy online "reviews"about this book. I have doubts the other reviewers even read the whole book (it sounds like they read the dust jackets).I have a feeling this book was published only becuase there are so few "armchair" travel books or modern memoirs of China that it's lack of quality is overcome by the fact there is no competition.
Well done
Very well-written and some good insights.The author is perceptive and had some interesting experiences in 1990's China (change in China is so rapid that her account is historical, not contemporary, already).One forgets at times how young she is until she has to deal with a personal tragedy at the end of the book and reverts to childhood.The only flaw is that the author has been somewhat corrupted by political correctness which sometimes leads to paralysis in her thinking.She's a foreigner in China, just accept that and go forward -- unfortunately, she gets over-analytical at times, tying herself in knots about what the Chinese will think of her foreigness and navel-gazing about her own motives.Trust your instincts and just be yourself.Skim over these parts and the rest of the book is interesting and well-written.Highly recommended.

Great view of China during a time of transition
This book is not as fluffy as the title may suggest. DeWoskin is very insightful about Chinese culture (at least for the period it covers and primarily for twenty-somethings). She also captured a really important time of transition that bridges the post-Tiannenman crackdown and the seeming increasing openness in China that we see today. As an insider living in the country, she describes incredible contrasts between the evolving consumerist, Americanized city life and the (to a degree) still traditional living conditions for those in the outskirts and rural areas. She also holds no illusions that this is a fundamental shift in Chinese policy and culture, but a continuing process that has gone through many iterations over thousands of years. For all this seriousness, it is a fun, engaging read that is not only well-written, but also casual and free-flowing. Because it is based on her personal journals, it is primarily the experience of one, twenty-something American, but she also includes enough research, history, social and literary context to give it some weight and heft. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1976-    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. China    5. DeWoskin, Rachel    6. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    7. General    8. Personal Memoirs    9. Popular Culture    10. Social Science    11. Social Situations And Conditions    12. Social life and customs    13. Sociology    14. Travel    15. Women    16. 21st century    17. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -   

Reviews (1)

Serious drawbacks
It makes sense to market a guidebook focusing on the two cities in China that many Americans will bundle together in one trip.I found the site, hotel and restaurant reviews consistent with my own experiences (albeit my sample size was small).But this book has key drawbacks that made me regret the weight it took up in my baggage:(1) place names for hotels, restaurants, sites, etc. are generally given only in English.Most tourists will get around these cities by cab.Cab drivers in China almost never speak any English.Nor will most Chinese on the street, should you want to ask directions.Thus, giving these names in both Chinese characters and Pinyin (romanized Chinese, so American travelers could at least try to pronounce them), should be mandatory for any guidebook you actually want to take with you to China.(2)The maps are confusing and, worse, sometimes inaccurate.Separate maps are given for hotels, sites and restaurants, and the formats differ, making it harder than it needs to be to figure out, say, how to reach a given site from your hotel.Many streets are unlabeled, making it hard to use the maps when walking around.It's not clear whether the maps are to scale, and scales aren't provided, so the maps can't be used to predict how far away things are.(3)Little information is given even on key sites.It would be better to find a guidebook that included little maps of large sites and major museums, as well as detailed background information.(4)The phrasebook section is far too limited, includes phrases you won't actually need (e.g., phrases for checking into hotels, although every hotel listed will have English-speaking reception staff), and omits phrases you definitely will want (e.g., phrases for asking directions and navigating customs) as well as phrases that could make your trip more fun (e.g., a basic foot-massage vocabulary).Finally, it should be noted that, like other Fodor's titles, this book is geared towards travelers who might be somewhat afraid of leaving their "luxury bubble."Unless you are willing to set the book aside and explore on your own, using this book will shield you from a lot of wonderful experiences. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Beijing (China)    3. Guidebooks    4. Reference - Guides (General)    5. Shanghai (China)    6. Travel    7. Travel - Foreign    8. China    9. Travel & holiday guides    10. Travel / Asia / China   

Reviews (3)

Great Pictures But Could do more work on the Information
I had hoped to be reading about the Forbidden City-its origins, itsdesigners, its layout, the function of the buildings and structures, thetreasures it contained,the catastrophes it survived and so forth. Great Pictures!
If you are a fan of Chinese history or art, this is the book for you. I enjoyed this book because of the magnificent pictures, and ancient Chinese paintings depicted in it. Not only are the pictures interesting, but so isthe text. It tells of......I guess you'll have to see for yourself! Greatbuy, all though I was afraid at first that I payed too much, after Irecieved it those fears were put to rest.

A Coffee-table Book � but no more
If you want a coffee table book, then buy it. The photographs by Hu Chui are stunning, and the reproductions of Chinese scrolls and paintings are excellent. Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Art    3. Asia - China    4. Beijing    5. China    6. China - History    7. Forbidden City (Beijing, China    8. Forbidden City (Beijing, China)    9. General    10. History Of Individual Cities    11. International Architecture - Asian    12. Palaces    13. Art & Architecture | History | Non-Western    14. Asian / Middle Eastern history    15. Castles    16. History / China    17. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Travel / Asia / China   

Subjects:  1. Travel / Asia   

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. History Of Architecture    3. Travel   

Features

• Audiobook

Reviews (3)

A great way to spend a few hours on Arm Chair Travel.
I love guide books. I used them extensively when I used to fly for free. This book was user friendly, entertaining and jam packed with all sorts of good information. Best Bet: Go to your local bookstore and check it out in person before buying it.

A VERY GOOD , true 'pocket size' compact guide.
Straight away, you're going to love the 'deck of cards’ size of this wonderful guide. It slips in your hip pocket and leaves your hands free to part the pressing masses of Beijing.If you’re a people person, you will love China (1.3 Billion and rising).

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. General    3. Transportation    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign   

Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. Reference - General    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel - General   

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. China    5. Travel & holiday guides    6. Travel / General   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Travel    3. Travel - General    4. TRAVEL & HOLIDAY    5. Travel / General   

Reviews (2)

Great pocket resource
I used this many times when I visited Beijing.I lived in China for two years and visited Beijing five or six times and used this book most of those times.The maps are good, though with the rapid growth of the city they are limited.It is especially good if you don't have a lot of time and want to check out the highlights.I own several Best of and Condensed lonely planets and I love them.

A Pretty Good Travel Guide, Perhaps Too Condensed.
This is a pretty good travel guide.It might have been a little too condensed.I liked the slim form factor of the book.I personally would have preferred if it was a little bit larger and went into greater detail on some of the topics.
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Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. China    5. Travel & holiday guides