Lonely Planet Beijing (Paperback)

~ Damian Harper (Author) "Although the area southwest of Beijing was inhabited by early humans some 500,000 years ago, the earliest records of settlement date from around 1000 BC..." (more)
Key Phrases: expat mags, roast duck restaurant, hard sleeper, Hong Kong, Jianguomenwai Dajie, Tiananmen Square (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

As usual the guidebook standard is set by Lonely Planet

-- Outside

Product Description

Comprehensive coverage of all the major sights in Beijing is included in this travel guide, as are detailed notes on hotels, restaurants and nightlife for various budgets. Practical information for the business and independent traveller is also featured throughout this text.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 5th edition (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740592816
• ISBN-13: 978-1740592819
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,155,323 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Does the job, September 2, 2005

By	Jared M (Hamilton New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet: Beijing City Guide (Paperback)

The latest edition of LP Beijing follows the new formatting that LP introduced in 2004 for its travel guides. There are inserts of colour photography for those of you so inclined. The Language section is OK, and chinese is used on the maps to assist you when dealing with taxi/bus drivers.

Generally speaking, the LP Beijing City Guide will do the job for short term visitors to the city, and these short term visitors are the target audience for these books. Those staying long term as ESL teachers or in other capacities will find it lacking after a while, but there is only so much you can squeeze into these books anyway.

Just a note to those planning on visiting the city in the next few months. A lot of the major sights, such as the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, are under restoration as part of the city's preparation for the 2008 Olympics (see the Olympic countdown clock outside the main entrance of the Museum of Chinese History), with scaffolding and workmen all over the show. You can still get into these places, but may not be able to see all the sights mentioned in the guidebook. But be sure to get a photo of the Starbucks which is slap bang in the middle of this historic city. Commercialism at its finest...

I'm normally a devoted LP customer, but I have to admit to making an impulse decision to purchase the Insight City Guide to Beijing. I found the Insight guide to be almost as good, particularly where maps are concerned. The Insight guide was also cheaper than the LP book, although I think the LP listed more activities. For me though, Lonely Planet still sets the standard for Travel Guides.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Travel Guide, More Useful than others, Needs Update., August 18, 2004

By	Mark "Technology, Music and Movies" (East Coast) - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)

I found this travel guide to Beijing to be very useful and nicely put together. Lonely planet always has nice graphics and pictures. The information was short and sweet. There was enough information to be useful, but not so much that it was overkill.

As has been pointed out, the chinese characters are included which is very helpful. Also, it is true that with development being what it is in China it is impossible to write a guide that is totally up to date. Clearly, being published going on 2 years ago, this book could use an update.

All that being said, this is the best guidebook to Beijing that I have seen out there. That is why I am giving it 4 stars. Happy Travels!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Missing major component, August 21, 2006

By	J. Tu (NC, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lonely Planet: Beijing City Guide (Paperback)

The information is good but there are no Chinese characters of locations/names to show to taxi drivers. The pronunciations are just too difficult for some one not adept at languages or who has not studied some Chinese. I have taken over a dozen trips to China and find books with Chinese characters far more useful.