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The holiday starts the moment you open the guidebook (The Guardian )
Review
The holiday starts the moment you open the guidebook The Guardian
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book based on the reviews and because we our trip consisted of about 4 days each in Shanghai and Beijing, therefore a small guide covering both cities was perfect. At first, it looks like a great book. Compact and light, shiny strong cover that did not show signs of wear, small maps included within the guide, pictures and explanatory text.
We did, however, find the following problems when we tried to use it:
- On two occasions in Shanghai the guide suggested getting to places via the subway and then a bus or taxi. Both times, we found a subway station very close to where we wanted to be (Summer Palace and Tian Tan). I appreciate that this is a city that is expanding at a very fast rate and therefore it may be that these are new stations since publication in 2009, however it is not very helpful for the tourist.
- The restaurant recommendations are only in English. We tried to go to one of the suggested places in Beijing but there were only names in Chinese on the buildings. The guide gave the name of the road, but no the building number (these were all clearly displayed on the street and would therefore have enabled us to find the correct place).
- There was a suggestion for a place for dim sum. When we arrived in the evening, we were told that dim sum was only served for lunch and not dinner.
- The guide suggests that restaurants are open until late. In practice, most places close at about 9pm and are quite rude about kicking you out!
- The maps were very useful a lot of the time, however the location of subway stations was not terribly accurate. Several times we found ourselves walking for ages trying to locate and entrance to the trains.
I still recommend DK guides in general (as I have used them in the past on other trips) but would suggest customers get a more detailed up-to-date map and thoroughly check before setting out to visit any restaurant or tourist attraction.
We did, however, find the following problems when we tried to use it:
- On two occasions in Shanghai the guide suggested getting to places via the subway and then a bus or taxi. Both times, we found a subway station very close to where we wanted to be (Summer Palace and Tian Tan). I appreciate that this is a city that is expanding at a very fast rate and therefore it may be that these are new stations since publication in 2009, however it is not very helpful for the tourist.
- The restaurant recommendations are only in English. We tried to go to one of the suggested places in Beijing but there were only names in Chinese on the buildings. The guide gave the name of the road, but no the building number (these were all clearly displayed on the street and would therefore have enabled us to find the correct place).
- There was a suggestion for a place for dim sum. When we arrived in the evening, we were told that dim sum was only served for lunch and not dinner.
- The guide suggests that restaurants are open until late. In practice, most places close at about 9pm and are quite rude about kicking you out!
- The maps were very useful a lot of the time, however the location of subway stations was not terribly accurate. Several times we found ourselves walking for ages trying to locate and entrance to the trains.
I still recommend DK guides in general (as I have used them in the past on other trips) but would suggest customers get a more detailed up-to-date map and thoroughly check before setting out to visit any restaurant or tourist attraction.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This excellent guide has been of enormous help for my forthcoming holiday to Beijing with my wife for our 20th wedding anniversary. Restricted as we will be for time and cost, the book gives clear details of where to go, what to see, and a very useful time scale to allow for each place.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am glad to see this guide book has been updated as Beijing has been considerably modernised for the Olympic Games. The 2007 copy I had was already out of date in many respects.
Having said that, the photos and layout are excellent, as we have come to expect from Dorling Kindersley books, and we must have made use of almost all the well presented chapters.
The section on restaurants was particularly helpful.
We did come unstuck though, when we tried to follow the Two-hour walk around Hou Hai (P 100). We got very lost and unfortunately missed many of the attractions en route. Certainly a tour worth following if you can get it right and it ends in an area where there are some wonderful evening watering holes!
It is worth noting the small comment on P 227 (of my copy) where you will find the warning relating to rickshaws "be careful if tempted to take these in Beijing or Shanghai - they frequently target tourists for substantial rip-offs". We were told the price would be 3 yuan and when we arrived, not even at our correct destination, the price had suddenly soared to 300 yuan!
Also note: Most travellers will probably be carrying Pounds, Euros or Dollars, which are readily exchanged. Coming from Dubai, however, we had Dirhams - which were impossible to exchange in any hotel or bank.
One problem I did find with the book was that it covered both Beijing and Shanghai and as we were only visiting Beijing, we were carrying a much heavier book around town with us than should have been necessary. I personally would have preferred the two cities to have been published separately.
So, excellent illustrations and very thorough but with some reservations.
I will certainly consider DK Travel Guides in the future.
Having said that, the photos and layout are excellent, as we have come to expect from Dorling Kindersley books, and we must have made use of almost all the well presented chapters.
The section on restaurants was particularly helpful.
We did come unstuck though, when we tried to follow the Two-hour walk around Hou Hai (P 100). We got very lost and unfortunately missed many of the attractions en route. Certainly a tour worth following if you can get it right and it ends in an area where there are some wonderful evening watering holes!
It is worth noting the small comment on P 227 (of my copy) where you will find the warning relating to rickshaws "be careful if tempted to take these in Beijing or Shanghai - they frequently target tourists for substantial rip-offs". We were told the price would be 3 yuan and when we arrived, not even at our correct destination, the price had suddenly soared to 300 yuan!
Also note: Most travellers will probably be carrying Pounds, Euros or Dollars, which are readily exchanged. Coming from Dubai, however, we had Dirhams - which were impossible to exchange in any hotel or bank.
One problem I did find with the book was that it covered both Beijing and Shanghai and as we were only visiting Beijing, we were carrying a much heavier book around town with us than should have been necessary. I personally would have preferred the two cities to have been published separately.
So, excellent illustrations and very thorough but with some reservations.
I will certainly consider DK Travel Guides in the future.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Packed with information - attractive and useful.
This Eyewitness Travel book is some 240 pages long and is written in two sections, one on Beijing and the other on Shanghai. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. J. G. Woolmer
More up-to-date than information from our tour company
We know that things in China are moving quickly, and this edition is fairly accurate in its content - much more so than the information provided by our tour company. Read more
Published 7 months ago by John Digswell
Great book as always from Dk
What another excellent book from these publishers. Planning a trip to hina later this year and has really heped. Look forward to using it when we get there
Published 10 months ago by Graham
There are better books out there
I'm just back from my trip to China. And I really loved it!
I didn't find this book particularly good. Read more
I didn't find this book particularly good. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Infiniti
Very good two-cities guide
Planning to visit both Beijing and Shanghai, I found this book an ideal guide. Good pictures, excellent maps, and plenty of useful and interesting information to enable you to get... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Paul Parrack
Brilliant guide!
I bought this book for my sister who is currently in China. She is over the moon with this edition as she can find easily everything she needs. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mrs. A. Mantio
Good book but beward of map!
This book ticked most of the boxes for my recent visit to Shanghai and Beijing. Well-illustrated and good historic background, as well as contemporary information. Read more
Published on 15 May 2010 by Ferdinand-du Bois
Listmania!
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