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 Frommer's China (Frommer's Complete) :: 0764597434
Description
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| Choose the Only Guide That Gives You: Complete coverage of China’s top attractions, plus introductions to unique places unknown to other guidebooks. Outspoken opinions on what’s worth your time and what’s not, written by current and former residents with comprehensive knowledge of the language and culture. Includes establishment names listed in both English and Chinese characters, making it easier for you to get around and find the places you're looking for. Includes detailed Chinese language and menu guides. Our authors, experienced China travelers who've written about the country for years, offer valuable insights and paint a vivid picture of a country that's undergoing one of the most fascinating cultural and economic transformations in history. Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
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Author: Guest
According to the authors, Gulangyu Islet is supposedly the "Piano Island" but no one seems to have told the locals? Did they talk to the locals? I'ved lived here for 18 years, and Gulangyu is known not only throughout China but Asia as well for its pianos (1 in every 5 families has one) and the largest piano museum in Asia. Locals are proud of this--so where did the "no one seems to have told the locals? come from?
I'm used to the sarcasm of jaded travelers and their jaded guides, but this bunch reminds me of the fictitious author of the hilarious fictitious guidebook to the Asian country "Phaic Tan" who said, "I visit every place twice--the first time to experience it and the second time to complain about the changes."
Another group of so-called experts wrote about Xiamen's Xinjie Church in a beautiful pictorial on Western Religious Architecture in China, but though the photos were incomparable, I could tell they were like the Frommer's bunch, and had not done their homework. They said the Xinjie Church folk were arrogant because they had a plaque in front boasting they were China's most important church. If the authors knew any Chinese, or history, they'd have known the plaque said they were China's 1st (earliest) Protestant Church, not the most important.
That brings me, in closing, to Frommer's comment on my own books, like Amoy Magic, in which they admitted had information not found elsewhere but would probably be chucked out the window because of their amateurish, inane attempts at humor.
Granted, I'm not an expert travel writer, but I do know the place, and I wrote them because I was tired of guidebooks written by people like these who bus into town, spend two days jotting notes, take off, and then write misleading information about our city and province. (I just had a man from another famous travel guide visit, spend one day on Gulangyu, interview me briefly, and then write the "guide" to Gulangyu and Xiamen--but this guy was smart enough to ask locals (Chinese and foreign) for help, in spite of his tight schedule.
China is too big a country for any one team to take in, so I understand a teams' limitations--but this group is a bit much. Why not just write about what they do know and leave out the unprofessional political and personal diatribes?
In closing, I'm not a pro at writing guidebooks (though I've received hundreds of letters from people who do like my "inane" humor), but I am a pro at reading them. I've been in Asia over 20 years, and based on my experience, if I wanted a guide to China I'd go with Lonely Planet or Fodor's, because Frommer was Fumbling when they put together their latest "team."
P.S. I just found Frommer's online description of Xiamen: "Much of the island is a hideous white-tiled wasteland to match anything else in China, but even so, the odd turret and spire reflect the city's pride in its stock of original European architecture."
I would have liked to give Frommer's at least 2 stars just for the quantity of info--but the info is too misleading. This "hideous white-tiled wasteland" is in fact one of China's most beautiful cities, loved by foreign and Chinese residents alike (even awarded the Habitat award by the U.N. and received the Gold in the international Livcom competition). There is so much good they good have written about...
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Author: Guest
Frommer's "China Complete" tries hard to include a lot of information, but there's just not enough room in "only" 800 pages to pack it all in. Let's face it, China is too big a country to be covered adequately by an all-in-one guidebook. I'd definitely go for more specialized, regional and city, guidebooks whenever you can find them.
For something more inclusive, though, I can suggest two possibilities, especially for first-timers: (1) "Frommer's China: The 50 Most Memorable Trips" and (2) "The Eyewitness Travel Guide to China." The Eyewitness Guide is very attractive and informative visually, while "50 Trips" has excellent descriptive text and not a single photograph! You could decide which one to buy, depending on your own preferred orientation (visual or text). Both do a fine job of describing China's many cultural sights: temples, palaces, gardens, and more. They are cultural guides, rather than "Frommer's Complete" all-things-to-all-people approach, but I prefer them for that very reason. In trying to do too much, "Frommer's Complete" doesn't really fit the bill.
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Author: Guest
To begin with, readers should know that this guide was severly pared down, which explains why there are so few budget hotels and budget restaurants listed. Many section writers knew plenty of cheaper hotels and restaurants, but due to space limitations the decision was made by the publisher to list only the upper-level accomodations. This is partly because Frommer's really isn't geared towards the budget traveller.
The Beijing section is excellent, and you should go with their recommendation of staying at the Far East International Hostel, or the hotel across from it.
I am suprised by the review that felt that the authors had never been to China. In fact, all of the authors were actually foreign residents of China. While this means that they have a more intimate understanding of their region, it often means that they are less focused on the area as a travelling destination, which may explain why they don't go into the kinds of historical and cultural detail that a travel writer (who is experiencing the city differently) might.
Also, it means that much of the recommendations for certain sections of the book are not at all written from a traveller's perspective. In particular, the section on Chengdu focuses nearly all of its restaurants in the middle-south of the city. After hearing locations described in terms of their proximity to the US Consulate three times, it certainly makes me suspect that the writer of the section spent a long time there. In fact, 7 of 12 of the restaurants were located no more than half a mile from the consulate. Good luck finding a description of many places to eat within a 30 minute walk of the fairly popular Dragon Town Hostel (which, although offering pretty good accomodation, was not mentioned at all in the guide) located slightly northwest of center.
As other reviewers have noted, the section on Shanghai is pretty worthless. Even the editor of the book will tell you this. Against his recommendation, the publisher cobbled on a highly shortened version of the already out-of-date Frommer's Shanghai into the Shanghai section of the book. It is out of date and not all that helpful as a guide.
For those who travel to a new place just to try the food, you'll love this book. It has an entire section in the back listing common dishes, dishes unique to featured restaurants, and specialities. The listing includes Chinese characters and pinyin.
If your travel plans include Beijing, this book is a must. If you're going only to Shanghai, choose any other book.
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Author: Guest
I just returned from a solo trip through China and the Frommer's Guide was an excellent reference for both planning the trip before I left and for exploring the areas while I was there. The information provided in the beginning of the book ("Best of China" "Planning your trip..") helped me to focus in on what I wanted to see and how I could best do that, while the city sections provided a wealth of useful information on neighborhoods, orientation, and fast facts for the area. The bi-lingual listing of accomodations, attractions, etc. came in handy several times with taxi drivers and helpful citizens (I tore pages out of my book at each city visited to travel lightly. I especially enjoyed (and used) the highlighted sidebars (i.e. "A Great Hike on the Great Wall" "To Cruise or not to Cruise") as these messages were especially timely in light of what is happening now with China's rapid development. These sections, and most of the information in general, I found to be objective and true descriptions of what I encountered in China. The book, of course, was one of several tools (including internet postings, site reviews, transportation schedules, reading other books, learning a few Mandarin phrases, etc.) that helped to create a successful trip full of wonderful memories; however, after doing lots of note taking and reading from the other sources, it was an easy choice to make Frommer's the only book that made the cut as part of my carry-on. I was never disappointed and I'd recommended it to other travelers...Happy Journeys : )
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Author: Guest
This book has horrible advice for travelers going to China. The hotels it regards as "cheap" were usually about 4 times more expensive than the hotels I found for myself. It gives very little interesting information about cities aside from the mainstream information the author probably found on the internet. It does have some good information such as bus, train and taxi info, but aside from that it's pretty useless. I looked in my friends Lonely Planet book on the other hand, and it was filled with useful information that no one would know unless actually exploring the places in particular. It also gave really good suggestions for cheap places to stay and eat. Outside major Chinese cities, paying more than ten dollars a night for a hotel is stupid, or even paying more than two dollars for a personal meal is simply getting ripped off. But Frommers couldn't seem to find anything under $40 for hotels, even in a town where every second bulding was a hotel (and the place I'm referring to the hotels were only $5 a night, if you knew how to bargain a little, another thing not really mentioned in the book) and the cheapest meal they usually suggested would run you about $10. The book also didn't have information on many cities I was visiting. All I can say about this book is "shame". Go with Lonely Planet instead.
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