China (Eyewitness Travel Guides) (Vinyl Bound)

by DK Publishing (Author) "Stretching over 50 degrees of latitude and covering 3.7 million sq miles (9.6 million sq km) of land, the People's Republic of China is one..." (more)
Key Phrases: west bus station, shi lin, central map, Hong Kong, Silk Road, Yellow River (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The DK travel guide helps you to get the most out of your trip to China, providing expert recommendations as well as detailed practical information. The opening chapter Introducing China maps the country and sets it in its historical and cultural context. Each of the seven regional sections is divided into area chapters that cover from one to three provinces each. Here you will find descriptions of the most important sights with maps, pictures and illustrations. Hotel and restaurant recommendations can be found in Travelers Needs . The Survival Guide contains practical information on everything from transport personal safety.

Product Details

• Vinyl Bound: 672 pages
• Publisher: DK Travel (August 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756609194
• ISBN-13: 978-0756609191
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #29,026 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #20 in	Books > Travel > Asia > China
  #45 in	Books > Travel > Guidebook Series > Eyewitness

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good intro guide, October 14, 2006

By	Charles E. Stevens - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I used two tour books to plan my trip to China: Eyewitness for the general details of the itinerary, and Lonely Planet for the logistical details. The Eyewitness guide has a massive amount of beautiful photographs and illustrations that help give the traveler an idea of the sights he or she can choose from, which is very important--unless you have a year or so to spare, planning a trip to China is as much about choosing what NOT to see as it is choosing what to see. I could also see this being the perfect guide for the more casual traveler; someone in a tour group or someone accompanying a designated "navigator."

That being said, if you are traveling solo (that is, not in a tour group or other organized group of some kind) you will also want to have a more "details-heavy" guide such as the Lonely Planet, which is full of details Eyewitness does not have, including bilingual maps and place names, as well as more and deeper descriptions of sightseeing locations, hotels, restaurants, and nightlife.

All tour books have their strengths and weaknesses, and although the lesser amount of logistical details is the main drawback of Eyewitness China, the large number of helpful photos and illustrations is its main strength. Although solo travelers will need a little more than this, for the casual or group traveler this guide alone would probably be more than enough to enjoy your trip to the Middle Kingdom.

46 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good guide book, recommended over Lonely Planet, November 28, 2006

By	almosthappy (San Diego, CA, California) - See all my reviews

This is actually my fourth DK guide book. Prior to DK Eyewitness China, I've used Eyewitness Great Britain, Eyewitness London, and Eyewitness Paris on my previous backpacking/business trips. Never had any problems with any of the aforementioned titles. So this year, my wife and I decided to use the DK Eyewitness China for our 3.5 week vacation in the Middle Kingdom. We have also brought a copy of Lonely Planet, figuring it would give us more information over the image-intensive DK guide. The decision to bring along the Lonely Planet guide turned out to be a mistake and an extra pound or two that we didn't really need in our suitcase. The few times we attempted to use the Lonely Planet guide for information on various cities, we found exactly none of the information we needed. Instead, we got an earful of ramblings intended for college backpacking kids. DK guide, on the other hand, provided very easy to use maps and no-nonsense information. If you're exploring a major site, DK's 3d pictorial coverage is especially helpful in term of quickly orienting yourself. Sure, this book doesn't cover everything. Frankly, overall, Lonely Planet probably does offer more information - if you have the patience to read through all the horrible writings to get to the point. But if you want a highly usable and well-designed tour book that's lean and mean, this one is for you. Recommended.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 Stars... Great introductory guide, April 8, 2007

By	Paul Allaer (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In preparing for a recent business trip to China (my first time going there), I asked one of my (Chinese national) colleagues for a few suggested books that provide a good overview of China, both from the historical perspective as well as the "touristy" perspective, and this is the book that was recommended to me.

I've had "China (Eyewitness Travel Guides)" (672 pages) for a couple of months, and found it fascinating reading but really didn't want to judge it until I had a chance to put it to the test while traveling in China. Well, I am here to tell you that the book performed great from that perspective as well. But before we get to that, let me point out that the first 70 pages of the book, providing a general overview and a summary of China's 5000 year history are nothing short of essential, and one of the things that set this book apart from many other China travel guides.

The real test of the book came for me when I was in some of the not so obvious places on my trip. Yes, we all have heard about and know some things of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, but what about places like Xi'An (in Shaanxi Province) and Xiamen (in Fujian Province), which I happened to visit. The information provided by this book is just excellent, and helped me prepare, both mentally and otherwise, for my trip. I agree that the "Where to Stay" and "Where to Eat" sections in the back of the book are not the best parts of the book, and frankly I did not use them for my trip, although I did find the practical tips such as "Do's and Don'ts of Eating Etiquette" quite helpful. Not only does this book make a great travel guide, but it is on top of that available here on Amazon for 40% off of the book's cover price. You can't go wrong with this.