South-West China (Lonely Planet Guide) [Paperback]

Bradley Mayhew (Author), Korina Miller (Author), Alexander English (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

A detailed guide to getting from place to place by plane, train, bus, boat, bicycle or foot in China's most traveller-friendly region. An essential Mandarin language guide and the Chinese characters used in the book have handy pronunciation tips.

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 2 edition (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 186450370X
• ISBN-13: 978-1864503708
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,398,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bradley Mayhew was born in Sevenoaks, Kent in 1970 and currently lives in Yellowstone County, Montana. A degree in Oriental Studies (Chinese) at Oxford University kickstarted 20 years of independent travel in the remoter corners of Asia and a career writing guidebooks. With his classmate, he wrote the Odyssey Guide to Uzbekistan, the first guidebook to the country, in 1995. He has since written over 25 guides for Lonely Planet, specialising in Central Asia, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, China and Yellowstone National Park.

In the course of his research trips he's been arrested in the Tajikistan Pamirs, forced to make a self-criticism in Tibet, slept in a cupboard in Nicaragua and spent way too much time eating mutton kebabs across inner Asia. Bradley has also written for Insight guides and Rough Guides and has lectured on Central Asia to the Royal Geographical Society. He was recently seen retracing the route of Marco Polo for a five-hour German TV documentary (Arte/SWR), airing in 2011.

Follow his blog at www.bradleymayhew.blogspot.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the same as the China guide!, January 4, 2003

By 

Kelli Hahn (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: South-West China (Lonely Planet Guide) (Paperback)

A couple of the reviews below complain that the coverage of South-West China was just lifted from Lonely Planet's China guide and this is really misleading. To prove a point, the following destinations are covered only in the SW China book and are not covered at all in the China guide:

YUNNAN - grottoes of Shibaoshan, stone city of Baoshan, Weixi county, Tiger Leaping Gorge trek map, Birang Gorge, Dondrupling monastery, Cizhong Catholic Church, the Nujiang Valley, Menglian, Chengjiang, Jiangchuan, architecture of Jianshui, Gejiu, terraces of Yuanyuang, Luxi Caves
SICHUAN - dinosaurs of Zigong, Yibin, Bamboo Sea, Bo Hanging Coffins, Yi people of Xichang and the Cool Mountains, Tibetan area of Muli, Tibetan monasteries around Tagong and Ganzi, Dzogchen Monastery, Pelpung, Dzongsar and Kathok monasteries around Derge, trekking around Derge, Daocheng and Yading Nature Reserve, Woolong Nature Reserve, Barkham, Wenchuan, Langmusi, Aba
GUIZHOU - Xingren, Miao towns of Leishan, Taijiang, Fanpai, Shidong, Huangping, Shibing, Zhenyuan, Tongren, Fanjing Mt nature Reserve, the Dong settlements of Ronjiang, Congjiang and Zhaoxing, waterfalls and caves of Chishui,
Guangxi - Nanning, Beihai, Chongzuo, Detian Waterfall on the Vietnam border, Jingxi, Baise, Guiping

The bottom line is that if you are planning a trip around China and/or only have a week or two in SW China, then take LP's China. But if you want to get off the beaten track, have more time to explore SW China and/or have an interest in Tibetan monasteries, hilltribe villages and minority nationalities in general, then SW China is DEFINITELY the guide to take.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is The Updated Version 2002, February 8, 2002

By 

Joseph McLaughlin (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: South-West China (Lonely Planet Guide) (Paperback)

This edition will take the traveler beyond the main sites detailed in the China 2000 Lonely Planet. Ignore the other two reviews as they criticize the earlier edition for being out of date. This edition will be very helpful for those exploring the diverse regions of Yunnan and beyond in the Southwest of China.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Much improved, September 13, 2002

By 

Balkh (Ambon, Indonesia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: South-West China (Lonely Planet Guide) (Paperback)

The negative comments re the first edition are justified, but for this much better second edition clearly a lot of work has gone into improving the Yunnan section (the bit I can comment on).