5 comments about Beijing Travel Map: China Regional Maps 2005/2006 Edition (Periplus Travel Maps).

1. Of all the maps we have used during our trip to Beijing this has been the most useful. It is very detailed, covers most parts of the city, outlines the subway system, is durable and folds up nicely for carying.



2. After looking at various maps of Beijing, I chose this map. Unlike other maps, this one has name of most of the streets in using our familiar alphabet system and in Chinese characters. The map is easy to read and has many locations such as hotels, shopping centers, embassies, and restaurants. I only wish it was laminated so that it would be more resistant to tearing at the folds.



3. Very good map. Lots of details and Chinese transcriptions. The only week point is that it lacks a metro map, but it is not a big deal.



4. I was looking for a map aimed at English-speakers, but with enough characters to be useful. [A map with only pinyin, but no characters, is pretty useless for traveling in China.] This map mostly fit the bill. It contains two maps, a 1:60,000 scale map of Beijing, and a 1:15,000 scale map of the inner Beijing (not even including the entire third ring). [Plus a useless 1:500,000 scale map of the greater Beijing.] The larger map contains almost no characters, except the major streets. I would have preferred listing fewer streets, but including more characters. The more detailed map, however, contains characters for almost all the streets. So if your travels will keep you within the third ring (true for almost all tourists), this map should suffice.
   
   However, I would recommend staying away from the restaurant information. The ones listed are hopelessly out of date. Of the 5 I checked, 3 were no longer there. Trust your guide book instead.



5. I got separated from my tour group and using this map (with a non English speaking tour guide) I found my way back to my hotel.

5 comments about South of the Clouds: Exploring the Hidden Realms of China.

1. I've spent over 8 years in Asia with much of it in China and have always enjoyed reading books about China. Many though, do not come close to capturing the modern thoughts of China as it changes from an agricultural to industrial power as this book does.
   
   If you are looking for a deeper understanding of how many Chinese feel on the street, with threads of intrigue, history and current events I heartily recommend this book.



2. 
   Faison brings us closer to the people of China and gives us an honest view of himself and how his own personal uncertainties influenced his choice of going to China and his life there. He dates a woman, who like China, has deep secrets, and he dates another who's personal choices help him understand himself. He visits the sauna massage to have a human touch and someone to talk with.
   
   I like this sort of armchair "travel" book because it skips the tourist sites, hotel/restaurant reviews and encyclopediac history in favor of narratives about the people and the times. You will not read about the Great Wall nor Summer Palace here, and the Xian soldiers are only here because they are part of a story about real, everyday people.
   
   These narratives are rich and memorable: the emmigrants and their familes of Fujian, a bootlegger, a sadly compromised government guide in Tibet, the slow build up to and the ensuing confusion of Tienamen Square. The sky burial, haunts me now, a day after finishing the book.



3. Wow... I just started reading this book two days ago and I'm completely engrossed... wished i had started reading it on a weekend, in order to read it faster!!!
   Having been in China just a couple of months ago, I wish I had read this before my trip. Seth Faison provides lots of information about China society, culture, history and politics without sounding too judgemental. This is one book I'm sure I'll come back to. Essential reading for these times!



4. I'm sure that with technology, there are no secrets. I give it four stars instead of three stars because people who take issue with his contradictions will want to read this. Break out the highlighter pens. I laughed when he acknowledges for the first time (and then frequently throughout the book) that Chinese women are fodder because I've heard the lengthy and boring explanations by those who refuse to admit that about themselves. Use a different color to highlight the many times he feels that Chinese have developed an "obsession for money" and that Chinese women use him to get magazines, currency exchange and see him as marriage material while they cannot afford his expat coffee or sundae. (The kinds of things he was asked for, many people would have no problem giving without the burden of the economic and racial differences between the giver and the receiver. Obtaining magazines are a big deal FOR EXPATS in China. There have been some socially retarded incidents of too much asking but I think the Chinese are better at showing when that's been inappropriate of Chinese so I think he could have been clearer about that.)
   
   Then use a third color highlighter for the many times that he is reliant on the generosity not just material but the generosity of Chinese attention that helps him acclimate and get his job done. People and perhaps especially Chinese fail to draw the comparison that the percentage of Chinese immigrants who enjoy that thorough a level of generosity overseas is much less than the percentage of nonChinese who are helped by Chinese in China. I bear him no rancor though I can't imagine he would appreciate this review. I haven't laughed so much READING in a while. The pungent motives and unspoken assessments are not a shock and I think he's very clever and remembers that many Chinese know this so he presents them for consumption. It's his admissions that save him just as when Kip Fulbeck's narrator admitted that he wouldn't want his daughter dating someone like him. LOL. I wonder if M. Faison (French Huguenot! LOL) has ever been frustrated that Chinese don't realize how clever he is. This book is not about "dating." It's about world politics and its instruments. And his cleverness is not in his confessions of eliciting confidences but in the entire book.
   
   A good companion to this book is Thailand Fever written from both Western and Thai perspectives (as interpreted by a Westerner apparently) with tips on how to successfully navigate the cultural misunderstandings to forge successful romantic relationships. The tone of Thailand Fever is different because the goal for the Westerner is different. I don't think that the authors of either books speak for all Westerners although Thailand Fever tends to generalize. Some expats may welcome South of the Clouds and refer to it to reinforce their criticisms; however, this book fails to explain that Asians and notably the Chinese are very good at ignoring other people and becoming invisible when they are not being appreciated or well-regarded sincerely so there is something to be said when they help you.
   
   I'm fed up with the lack of Asian male faces in American media while Asian women are left exposed and devalued so that this kind of reporting is part of the mainstream depiction instead of just a blip. I'm calling quits on going to the movies and closely considering every American media purchase I make (including magazines) from now on. I've had it!



5. I recently re-read Seth Faison's marvellous book on a return trip through China. I was in Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and then Hong Kong all in the space of a week. Faison's book was like a becalmed harbor that I could return to -- every time I got on a plane or settled down to bed. His crackling prose and incisive view of China and the gentleness with which he explained what is a tangled and complex place were something I looked forward to each day. It's a great book and deserves the widest possible attention.

No comments about Oman and UAE Insight Guide (Insight Guides) (Insight Guides).

1 comments about Cruising Guide to Southeast Asia, Vol. 1: South China Sea, Philippines, Gulf of Thailand to Singapore.

1. The reality is there is little information for this part of the world. This is good information, but its not great and it does lack in certain areas, I don't know of a better book so I'd reccomend it, but do lots of homework before you go the information changes quickly.

5 comments about The Rough Guide to Beijing, Second Edition.

1. If you plan to go to Beijing and you don't speak Mandarin,
   you *need* a good guide book. I consistently found this
   to be accurate, and it gave good advice. I met other travelers
   using the Lonely Planet, and they didn't find it nearly as
   useful.



2. This book was great--I don't know how we would have managed without it--it gives great, accurate information about places to go (not the nightclubs though), had great maps. We went to some of the most amazing restaurants that we would never have been able to find if not for the really detailed directions in the book (for example, this famous, but out-of-the-way roast duck restaurant hidden in the depths of the hutongs at Qianmen.) The maps were very useful, especially to show taxi drivers where you want to go, though you have to read the pinyin names to them since they can't read english. But definitely, you can't go wrong in Beijing with this book.



3. Even my sister, an x-pat living in Beijing, was impressed with the maps in this book. She said they were better than any maps she'd been able to find in-country. We still did get lost a couple of times, but overall managed very well. Also, the small list of English/Pinyin/Character words in the back came in very handy when we needed to buy a phonecard and no one understood our feeble attempts at spoken Chinese.



4. Very nice book, but spend some time reading it, before you go to China. There are a lots of details which are easy to overlook. For example, in contrast to Lonely Planet book, the Chinese transcription are gathered together at the beginning of each section. In fact it can be quite handful, but you need to get used to it. There are some minor mistakes, but every guidebook has them. For example the hole info about tourist buses is really bad written - I think this info is out of date and of little use. Also it is quite disappointing that in some places this book is less comprehensive than much general 'rough guide to China' - as an example there is no city map of Taijin.



5. A subject like Beijing isn't easy to cover fully enough to satisfy everyone but this guide does a good job. It lists all the usual "pricey" options which many are looking for but it assumes the user/reader is traveling independantly or at least semi-on-their-own and also attempts to offer cheap/affordable options in all categories as well. I found that using this book in combination with the internet, I was able to construct the memorable trip that I wanted at the VERY budget price I demanded. Excellent descriptions of sights, great accomodation options and fairly easy hints on "getting around" by public transport.

No comments about Japan (Postcards from).

4 comments about Hey, Joe: A Slice Of The City-An American In Manilla....

1. For any foreigner who wants a primer on Filipino street culture, and especially life in Manila, this book is an excellent read. Lerner provides a sympathetic and insightful, if somewhat superficial, treatment of Filipino culture and Manila's street life. Lerner achieves a level of insight into the lives of the average man-on-the-streets that eludes most foreigners who have lived in Manila for decades.

   The stories are not particularly deep, and contain very little profound insight into Filipino culture or life. But for what it is--an affectionate, honest, no-holds-barred description of life in one of SE Asia's least pleasant capital cities--the book succeeds. For anybody looking for amusing anecdotes about the foibles and ironies of life in the biggest of Filipino cities, this is a very good read. If you're looking for profound cultural insights, you'd best keep looking.




2. Ted Lerner has a wonderful ability to capture into words both the poignant and hilarious contrasts between Filipino and U.S. culture. And he indeed represents the reactions of the "wide-eyed" foreigner. This is not the jet-setting rich of Manila that he is observing - this is the life of the other 97%.. He's a student of the sweet science and the deft turn of phrase. Lerner is just the man to put this into words

   This is a guy who rides "jeepneys" to work and back - something very, very few foreigners do. It is this kind of lifestyle that opens up the culture to him. But it's a culture that is easily recognizable to almost any foreigner that has spent significant time in the Philippines. As a five-year resident of Manila, I thoroughly enjoyed Lerner's writings.

   A reader unexposed to the events described by Lerner will be enlightened; but the reader who recognizes and identifies with his observations will laugh out laud at times or even shed a tear or two.




3. This book , which could also be called Good Morning, Zir(Sir, which is what I heard alot from locals there)tells it all about a city the world has not yet given itself the precious time to know. Manila is filled with gross poverty and stunning wealth, a city where a CEO will make $60,000 a year, not much as CEO's go in the US but is opulent there. A city where a maid makes $600 a year but still has to pay the same price for food and electricity and entertainment as you and I do. I spent time there this year , my first visit, since we were going to meet my inlaws who could not make it to my wedding to their daughter and was slapped in the face by the ghastliness and the elegance that live side by side there. The poverty is bad but what struck me the most was the unbelievable haze that stays in the air & will not move. Surrounded by smog in an Asian capital with as much intense history as this city has stays in your mind as you leave the airport. This city , with perhaps the freest press in the Asian world, millions of English speakers and yet troubled, uprooted traditions will fascinate you and the author relates issues well with brevity and clarity. Read 'America's Boy', about Marcos and also 'Ghosts of Manila' too if you want to get the feel of this awful, wonderful place that God looks upon, not angrily, as men do, but with compassion and patience because His people live there.



4. Lerner captures the feeling and essence of the Philippines(PI) right on. I've been there many times, and when Lerner describes the marketplace, the cockfights, the pig butchering, the dog menu, and/or the bars, he puts you side-by-side with the locals. Poverty and wealth, dirt and brilliance, and ignorance and fine education, all live side-by-side in some kind of lop-sided arrangement. Through it all, the visitor will realize the strength, courage and ability of the people to survive, and many just by a day-by-day existence. The latest reports indicate that the birth rate is leveling out - thank goodness - just too many people for the nation to sustain a reliable food supply and general health care. Of course, there are random thefts, killings, and terrorism, but the vast majority of the people are happy and smiling, honest and straight, helpful and kind, and the word 'resilience' comes to mind. The visitor just has to use common sense, and certain places you don't visit at night, such as Tondo, or as Lerner bravely does, ride a bicyle in Manila, or exercise strenuously, and take in too much of the funky air. I enjoyed the book totally and had some hearty chuckles and insight, and would recommend this book to anyone travelling in Asia, or even enjoy in the armchair at home. Lerner is a good writer and keeps the reader wanting more. The illustrator, Vicky Villanueva Firestone, brings the words to life - good job!

2 comments about Laminated St. Petersburg City Streets Map by Borch.

1. The only map of Saint Petersburg that has survived my frequent trips to the Imperial City is this one from the B & B City Streets series. It is of primary interest to tourists since it covers only the city center in detail and it has Latin characters in all text. The map is virtually indistructable due to each panel being a seperate plastic laminated map segment which is waterpoof and folds effortlessly with one hand. It includes Metro Line diagrams, street locator index, text in 5 European languages, major attractions, yearly temp. and rainfall graphs, and regional map panels. This is the map I recommend to both first time and seasoned Saint Petersburg visitors due to it's comprehensive but easy to read format. If I was able to take only one map, it would be this one unless I needed a map in Cyrillic. All Cyrillic maps I've been able to find are thin paper that wear out and tear at the folds after a short period. The scale of 1:11000 is perfect for displaying the city center large enough to see the detail which would be desired by a walking tourist.



2. Contrary to the other review written, I would suggest buying ANY MAP OTHER THAN THIS ONE.
   
   The map's biggest problem is that it doesn't show the entire city. St. Petersburg is a collection of islands, and some of the islands, most importantly Vasilevsky, simply don't fit on the map. If you want to go anywhere other than the main streets of Petersburg, good luck using this map to figure out where they are. It doesn't zoom in, so you can get to the area something is in, but it's hard to find the tiny little winding streets it takes to get there. A huge key with points of interest blocks off most of the streets on another one of the islands.
   
   The reason I gave this map two stars instead of one (or none) was because: 1. It's laminated. Sure, you look really dumb in the city unfolding a HUGE laminated, brightly colored map, but it does withstand the test of St. Petersburg's regular snow and rain. 2. It has a metro map that's easy to understand. But I think you could find that anywhere. 3. The tourist locations are blatantly marked so that you can't miss them.
   
   So, if you're just going to see the ten major sites of St. Petersburg, than this is a fine map. But if you want to be able to navigate some of the smaller side streets or if you're trying to visit someone's apartment, this is not the map for you.

5 comments about A Ride to Khiva.

1. Burnaby, a classic hero/adventurer type, was the 19th Century's Indiana Jones. His book, a popular sensation when first published in the mid 1800s, chronicles his exciting, dangerous, and sometimes humorous horseback and sleigh/carriage ride from southern Russia to Khiva, in what was then an independant khanate in Central Asia, in the middle of winter. If you like exciting, true adventure travel tales, you owe it to yourself to see this book. A standard by which all subsequent narratives should be measured



2. This is an exciting adventure book, writen in 1876 about the travels of a British Army Captain through Western Siberia into Khiva, a city in Central Asia recently taken by the Russian Empire. It purports to be just travel by an army man at liesure, and wanting to see parts of the world. Since we are in the "Great Game" era, when Britain and Russia were contending for the countries around India, I have the feeling that it was more than that, and that the author's mission was somewhat akin to "checking out the land" in the case of an impending conflict. Anyway, it's extremely well-written, and the descriptions of both the places and the people are first rate! The author obviously had a keen eye, and I would really love to read the report he actually submitted to his superiors in London when he returned. I'm sure it's still buried deeply in their secret files.



3. South central Asia, the focus of the worldýs attention in 2003, received an earlier share of it in the 1870s. For centuries travelersý tales and the mention of such exotic names as Samarcand, Tashkent and Bokhara had aroused interest and fired imaginations. To all this was added rumor in 1875 that British interests in India were threatened by Russian expansionism. In particular, it was believed that Russian forces were massing in the recently occupied city of Khiva, nowadays in Uzbekistan, in preparation for an invasion of India.

   A situation like this fitted perfectly the kind of ýinvestigative reportingý adventures that Frederick Burnaby craved. In 1876, this 33-year-old captain in the British army took leave of absence, and set out for Khiva. The journey involved a ride of over one thousand miles in well below freezing conditions across steppes and wastelands.

   On his return, Burnaby wrote ýA Ride to Khivaý and it instantly became a best seller. A well-educated man, proficient in many languages, and a keen observer of all he encountered, his account still ranks as one of the great adventure classics of literature.

   I am grateful to the neighbor who lent me this book, and can report that reading it has provided many hours of fascination. Burnaby died ten years after writing this book, supposedly during a massacre in the Sudan. Keen Internet browsers might find reference to a recent revelation that throws doubt upon the truth of the official account of his death.




4. A Ride To Khiva: My Travels And Adventures In Central Asia 1875 is the personal memoir of soldier, traveler, writer, and pioneer balloonist Frederick Gustavus Burnaby, who died on January 17, 1885 at the age of 42 who was then a colonel in the British Army and speared to death in the Sudan along with 73 of his men. In 1875 Burnaby chose to personally investigate the rationale behind Russia's exclusion of foreigners in Central Asia. In the middle of winter Burnaby traveled by rail, carriage, sleigh, and horseback, while observing the people and their customs. A classic tale of true adventure, of struggling with language barriers, and of the determination to see one's task through, A Ride To Khiva is very highly recommended reading -- especially for enthusiasts of true adventure sagas.



5. This is a good read. It does not drag at all, and does capture subtle points of the central asian tribal culture that seem to run consistent with behavior to this date.

No comments about Indonesia: Islands of the Imagination.