Wallpaper City Guide: Shanghai (Wallpaper City Guide Shanghai) (Paperback)

~ Editors of Wallpaper Magazine (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Wallpaper* City Guides are an exciting, stylish new concept in travel guides published by Phaidon Press and Wallpaper* magazine. Glamorous, global and affordable, the new travel guides can be acquired for only $8.95 and feature the world’s greatest cities, from Barcelona to Buenos Aires, Istanbul to Sydney, London to Los Angeles. Aimed at the design conscious traveller, the guides offer just the right amount of insider knowledge on the world’s most popular cities, from where to stay and what to visit, to where you should eat, shop and be seen. Ideal for a weekend break or business travel, their discreet, pocket sized format tells you everything you need to know, giving you the inside track on what can not be found anywhere else.

The guides have been compiled by Wallpaper* magazine’s international editors and travel writers who have lived in the featured cities. They provide up-to-the-minute information and authoritative advice on the hottest of venues in the coolest of cities. Each guide will be updated annually to ensure they remain the authoritative ‘last word’ on the city concerned.

The guides are divided into sections on Landmarks, Hotels, 24 Hours, Urban Life, Architour, Shopping, Sports and Spas, and Escapes. In addition, each one features a local resident recommending their own favourite places to visit in that city and sharing their insider knowledge. Maps and aerial photography are included for easy navigation and orientation and there is even a notebook to record personal discoveries and recommendations. Each section is subtly tabbed with a different color to make it easy for you to find the information you need.

Wallpaper* City Guides are the result of a dynamic, joint publishing partnership between Wallpaper* magazine and Phaidon Press.

Whether you are indulging in long weekend and want to know which room to book in which hotel, or have a free afternoon on a business trip and would love to escape and explore, the Wallpaper* City Guides offer a stylish and original alternative. The complete list of launch cities includes Amsterdam, Bangkok, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Istanbul, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, New York, Paris, Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney and Tokyo.

About the Author

Wallpaper* City Guides are compiled by the magazine's travel experts, both by in-house editors, and correspondents who actually live in the highlighted cities, providing up-to-the-minute information

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (September 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714846961
• ISBN-13: 978-0714846965
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #879,232 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good for what it is, June 26, 2007

By	KeithSF (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This guide is great for what it is-- a beautifully designed booklet pointing out the chic hotels and clubs, plus some interesting architectural oddities...the writing is sometimes clever, sometimes snarky... it's very much in line with the whole 'global-nomad/jetset' aesthetic that Wallpaper magazine is known for. It's certainly *not* meant to be a comprehensive travel/cultural guide...I personally enjoyed this book very much when I was in Shanghai; I discovered a number of interesting places but this was after I had gotten my money's worth out of my battered, dog-eared 'Lonely Planet Shanghai' book.

I'd say, buy a Rough Guide or LP for the bulk of your traveling, but the Wallpaper guides are great supplements if you're interested in contemporary art/architecture/design etc...

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Write an article. Add some photos. Presto. A guidebook., April 2, 2007

By	moth "mothnm" (Abiquiu, NM United States) - See all my reviews

"Shanghai isn't Beijing," as if there is a limited amount of entertainment to be found in a commercial center like Shanghai.

The Wallpaper guide is compact and will get you through a few days in Shanghai staying at expensive hotels, hitting a few contemporary art hot spots and partying in expensive clubs and restaurants.

Instead of written description the guide has glossy photos. Nothing as practical as useful expressions, maps, bird flu precautions or written directions you can show a cab driver or how to exchange currency.

Printed out articles from the NY Times are short and seem to have more depth.

Because this guide seemed so minimal I picked up the Frommers guide to Beijing which has far more suggestions. Maybe Beijing is the more exciting city but at least I want to go there after reading the "few days in Beijing" section. Frommers has some suggestions of smaller, traditional hotels. With only a couple days in each city I want my experience to be Chinese, not global chic aesthetic. No resistance to a little bit of chic if it has a Chinese spin. That's why I picked up the guide.

There are a few fun tidbits like which room in which hotel Mao used to stay in.

Maybe this guide is enough. Some maps would be useful.

Overall, the Wallpaper guide seems thin and unenthusiastic. Maybe they do better with other cities. Maybe, like so many guidebooks, they researched by Internet and from other guidebooks instead of going to Shanghai, then compiled a glossier packaging with the photos hotels sent them. Maybe they sent the whole staff and edited until there wasn't much left.