Customer Reviews

Suzy Gershman's Born to Shop: Hong Kong, Shanghai & Beijing, Second Edition

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

 

 

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 We found this book to be outdated, commercialized and definitely not clued in to where the best shopping lies, particularly for Shanghai and Beijing.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.

Advice given regards places and items was either out of date or just plain wrong.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

Good solid tips on where to go for good shopping for the 1st time visitor, but it could be organized better as it tends to jump around and return to the same topic. For example, in Shanghai, the book mentions the Dong Tai Market under Bargaining, Old City, Antiques and Antiques Market when it could have been in one section.
Also, for Hong Kong, the book gives a plug for the Hong Tourism Agency (p.44). However, beware their "QTS" seal of approval for trustworthy stores. I got ripped off at one of their approved stores (Louvre Jewelry) and they said they could not help address the problem.

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 The places she recommended were tourist traps, her comments were perfunctory, and her information was woefully out of date (not by one year, but by several).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!

I just returned from a tour of China and this book was a tremendous resource and was the most popular book on the tour. We used it to have a fun shopping trip to the Pearl Market in Beijing and found it a useful resource for items to buy all over China. It had a good section on price bargaining and some helpful tips on transportation within the three cities. China had great prices and wonderful buys. This book is a must have for your trip to China.

This book is a complete waste of money. I bought it last year before going up to Hong Kong. It is very outdated and not at all helpful.