Customer Reviews

Fodor's Exploring China, 4th Edition (Exploring Guides)

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

 

 

The text and pix of China were ordinary tourist stock photos. The back cover claims to include much tourist information, such as restaurants. There was less than 1 page of listings in the whole book!

This book says Fodor's, but the book is actually produced by another organization which is probably why the book is substandard. I read this book at the public library.

This book is full of coloful pictures and interesting information - it was very helpful in planning our trip to China, and figuring out what we wanted to go see. I particularly liked the brief historical and cultural introduction at the beginning, and all of the side notes mixed in with the destinations. And you can't beat the pictures! I also liked how every tourist destination had a short history of the item right there with the current details.

The only reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5 is because we ended up not taking it with us on our trip, due to the lack of truly practical information. It lists some hotels and restaurants, but not in an easily accessible manner, and no Chinese characters are included. It completely omits boring but neccessary details like which bus to take or where the internet cafes and post offices are.

As a beautiful, factual and fun-to-read guide, we're keeping it on our bookshelf, but don't depend on it for the finer practical details!