China (Lonely Planet Country Guide)

Just as the authors describe China as "massive and endlessly fascinating", so is the material they have collected in this guide--an important travellers' opus. The 200-plus maps feature keys in English and Chinese script, there are essential details on transport options, a 12-page Chinese arts section, and a useful feature on the Chinese language. --Kathryn True

Reader Reviews:

Disappointing for a lonely planet (8/8 people found this helpful)

I normally swear by Lonely Planet guidebooks and didn't think twice about buying the China guide. However, I found that some of the practical information (which is normally so reliable in Lonely Planet guides) was thin on the ground as well as sometimes misleading (there was a subway stop on the Beijing map which didn't exist and some of the phone numbers for hostels in Xi'an were incorrect). What disappointed me the most however was that a lot of the sights descriptions /background info have clearly been copied from signs displaying onsite. I found that I had to take a tour guide on several occasions to get a less superficial overview of the place I was visiting. A big disappointment then although basic info is covered and will allow you to get from A to B.

2005 Edition terribly out of date and misleading to boot (29/29 people found this helpful)

I have literally (yesterday) just left China after spending 2 months there using the latest Lonely Planet edition and really believe I would have had a much better time if I hadn't chosen this book. I appreciate that China is changing at an incredible rate, but much of the information is clearly up to 10 years out of date (2005 edition remember). The only changes from the previous edition appear to be different photos and a better map. Its not just that's its out of date though, it was also misleading in many cases. The supposedly best hostel in Guixhou province had a tap over a stinking bathtub for a shower and a toilet that did not flush (nice owners though)!

Other examples:

Lonely Planet: Dali in Kunming is the only place to get away and have a holiday from travelling.
Reality: You will be harassed every minute you walk down the street by traders and people trying to sell you Marijuana. It's a tourist Mecca for Chinese and foreigners alike.

Lonely Planet: Longsheng in Guanxi is the centre of a colourful mix of local Dong and Miao minority people.
Reality: The only colour you'll see is the pink lights advertising the ladies of the night that line the streets. It's a very modern city that would not have matched a description like that in the last 15-20 years. (Another recent guidebook we saw had a much more accurate description)

Another criticism is that the information on Tibet is sparse as they want to sell you their Tibet guide book (The latest Rough Guide to China had at least twice as much on Tibet). They also plug their Mandarin Phrase Book in the language section.

I appreciate you might think that this sounds like whinging, but I have been travelling for over 9 months now and used many guidebooks in that time. What I do not appreciate is publishers bringing out new editions with so little new or updated information. Their only motive is to sell more books.

I strongly suggest researching and comparing any travel guide book before you buy as you can't change it easily once you're away and certainly do not just go for Lonely Planet because they're the biggest.

Fantastic country (10/10 people found this helpful)

A great general guide but watch out for a number of things.
1. Prices change at a phenomenal rate in China. We arrived in China with the older edition and two weeks later the new one came out. By that stage the price for accomodation and events as listed in the new guide had dramatically increased in some places by large amounts making it very hard to get around.
2. They say that you need to book travel days in advance and through hotels or CITC. In reality we rarely had problems getting tickets for sleepers even on the day of departure. If you are going to be in the town for less than three days buy your ticket before you leave the station if you can. CITC will charge you loads of commission although they did get us out of a jam accomodation wise in Datong at 10pm one night.
3. Buy the LP Chinese quide and use it rather than the useless guide in the book. My wife would copy out the characters in the book for the basics whenever we needed to buy train tickets and this usually got us through even in the most backward station.
4. Enjoy yourselves

ok for general info (4/6 people found this helpful)

of course it can't cover everything, considering its a little book about a big place. quite handy for a few things but not really worth carrying around. the phrase book is terribly confusing. it isnt in pinyin, with the idea that english speakers would prefer english style spelling. LP forgets that alot of people are not english mother tongue and have to get their heads round the english style spelling first, then to say it in what is hopefully chinese!!! it really didnt work for me. better to leave it in pinyin for all to learn and understand. Shanghai was a complete waste of time to read. the restaurants, etc guide was so utterly touristy i felt it was being aimed at 3-5star tourists! not 1 mention of any good places i'd been to. all the good info the book gives can easily be found on the internet, savin having to carry it around.

Does a Pretty Good job.......... (15/20 people found this helpful)

I live in beijing, China. I know about China's problems, advantages, and vast size. China is the worlds 3rd biggest country so it will be absolutely impossible to label every single town and city in every province or autonomous region. I think, considering the fact that I live in China, that this does a good job for people who are visiting, or coming to live in China in general, and need a rough guide to the province/autonomous region that they are going to live in, If you are looking for a 100 page guide on Hebei (a province), it simply won't be here, as this is a guide to China, not Hebei.

China is a BIG country, the maps, discriptions, and phrases in Lonely Planet China has enough for you to survive in China if you are a foreigner for a few days. Once you get here, you can get an extremely detailed map of China with the metropolises, major cities, minor cities, and not-so-important villages.

This is a summary of a huge country in around 1000 pages, and it has a little about every important and/or tourist friendly place in China.

China (Lonely Planet Country Guide)

Damian Harper

Editorial Review: