Customer Reviews

CHINA: THE SILK ROUTES

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We spent two months in NW China this summer and used this book so much that we threw away my other guide book (It is a very lonely one now). We finally left China: the Silk Routes with another traveller in Xiahi as we left the Silk Route regions. It is simply the best guide book for the Silk Road available, listing locations and towns that are not yet covered in other books, plus great essays on historical areas and the sites. It also has a handy index (with Chinese characters) of food, phrases, and other useful words to ease communications.

Last fall, I traveled on the Silk Road, from Uzbekistan through Western China to Xian, with two companions. This was far and away the best travel guide we used. Not only did it guide us to the best accomodations available in out of the way places, but it also gave us excellent practical information wherever we were. Because we did not speak the local language, we relied on this excellent book to give us interesting background and historical info. When communications were all but impossible, I would open the book and point to the relevant phrases written in Chinese characters, and we were able to get what we needed! This book is worth its weight in gold for anyone traveling independently in this part of the world.

Two great virtues make this an excellent guide indeed. First, it is a really useful planner in that it contains sufficient details for you to map your routes, pick your transports, accomodation, eating places, etc. Alongside are also well written sections on the history and other aspects that an inquiring traveller demands and appreciates. Both the traveller/writer and the publisher are to be heartily congratulated

One nice thing I can say about this guidebook is that the glossary in the back, as well as the micro maps provided of various regions, were extremely useful and tailored specifically for tourists ignorant of Chinese culture such as myself.
The two biggest problems are that it is outdated and that the information and coverage is inadequate. If you use this guide alone for Beijing, as we foolishly did, you'll be missing out a lot. Even in Eastern Turkistan (Xinjiang) a tremendous number of historical sites were left out in Kashgar and Yerken. If you're just interested in trekking and adventure traveling and the history and culture isn't that important, then you can go ahead with this book and the Lonely Planet guide to Central Asia. However, if that's your attitude you're really missing out on a lot and it's not worth all that money to come to this distant corner of the Earth.
For East Turkistan, the small section in the Lonely Planet Central Asia guide was much more useful for purely practical information (such as hotels and restaurants) than the considerably larger section in this book.