No comments about China Wall Map First Edition (Periplus Wall Maps).

3 comments about Insight Guide China (Insight Guides China).

1. After comparing this book on China to other books on China I purchased this book. I visited 4 cities in China and found this book extreenly helpful. The background and history sections enlightened me. This information provided me with greater insight. The sections on specific places in China provided great detail. The readability, maps and color pictures enhance its value as a resource on China. I found the section on travel tips an indespensible aid.



2. Leaving for China in June 2001, so will know how well this book covered the details. But, of all the books I've looked through, this one was by far the best for general information. Excellent pictures and text, with really well laid out maps. Items of interest are noted in the text and on the map with a circled number, so it is really easy to find items on the map. Much more than just a 'travel guide' this book would be an excellent introduction to China, Chinese culture, history, and peoples, even for people not going. Highly recommended.



3. Pretty pictures and a nice overview of sites here but not much in the way of practical information. Best for deciding where to go but not for planning logistics.

2 comments about Chinese, Indian and Thai Cuisine Passport (Let's Eat Out!).

1. I bought this little book because I am gluten intolerant and was traveling to Asia. I had hoped for lists of common food items I could eat or phrases to help me ask about what was safe and did not find the information I wanted.



2. This guide is extremely to use. It provides sample menus that you'd see at Chinese, Indian and Thai restaurants. Then you are provided with descriptions of each dish and how it is prepared and the ingredients used. From there you are provided with specific considerations as to how the preparation or ingredient list may affect you if you have Gluten or Allergen issues.
   
   This book is the size of a passport and very organized and well written. The Chinese, Indian and Thai Cuisine Passport is perfect for making choices while traveling, or while dining at your favorite local restaurant.

2 comments about Insight Fleximap Shanghai.

1. The primary advantage of the Fleximap is its durable plastic coating. It is also flexible enough to fold in half to fit into a pants pocket (it still wouldn't fit in my shirt pocket though). This new edition seems to be reasonably up to date, showing the location of the Royalton Hotel I am staying at. One side has a detailed map showing most the important areas of Shanghai and is very easy to read with its color scheme. The other side has three small maps covering the Shanghai area, a very small (barely readable) subway map, indices for streets and places of interest, plus descriptions of about three dozen places to visit and shop. I could have done without the text for these suggested sights as they are in the usual guide books and would preferred to have seen the space used for more map area.
   
   This brings me to the what is missing from the Shanghai Fleximap. There are no maps for Suzhou and Hangzhou, major tourist destinations surrounding Shanghai. The other major omission is street and place names in Chinese, which would be useful in navigating Shanghai (especially when communicating with a taxi driver or other local who does not understand English). I ended up also buying the Periplus map for Shanghai, which does not have the durable plastic finish, but shows more of Shanghai and with more detail, with many names in Chinese as well as English, plus has maps of Suzhou and Hangzhou. It should be noted that the current (as of this review, 2005/2006 edition) Periplus map is slightly dated in comparison to the newer Fleximap (for example, the text incorrectly states that Hongqiao airport handles all flights even though the map does show the newer Pudong International airport).
   
   If I were to only get one Shanghai map, I would go for the Periplus for its extra features, but I do like the Fleximap's construction.



2. I have used several Insight Fleximaps for travel, and find them to be very good. The map is easy to read, and the tourist info seems to hit the right level of detail.
   
   The laminated cover also permits circling your highlights (with specially designed pens) and removing the marks later with a damp cloth. Recommended!!

5 comments about Operation Yao Ming: The Chinese Sports Empire, American Big Business, and the Making of an NBA Superstar.

1. This book is full of unsubtantiated racist drivel. The premise is that the Chinese can't play basketball. Lamaar does not source his claims - it's just like that he's making up stuffs from thin air.
   
   Regarding his claim that Yao was somehow bred. An Sports Illustrated (SI) article asked why is there only one Yao Ming.
   Why didn't they "created" more Yao Ming's if what Lamaar claimed is really factual? In case people don't know. Yao is the only child.
   
   If you look at other NBA caliber Chinese basketball players such Sun Yue, Yi Jianlian, Tang Zhengdon, Xue Yuyang (drafted by Denver), and even Wang Zhizhi. Their parents were not basketball players.
   
   There is no logic to Lamaar's unsubstantiated drivel.



2. This book is a very readable biography of Yao Ming.
   But I had been led to hope that it would inform me about China's future. I'm disappointed at how little it tells me about that subject. It provides some moderately interesting tidbits of information about China's recent history, but the book doesn't attempt to provide the kind of understanding of China that would tell us whether those tidbits are a glimpse of a past that is being abandoned or whether they contain useful indications of China's future.



3. I am NOT a huge sports nut...you know the kind who rattles off stats and knows all the players, but I really enjoyed this book. The story of Yao Ming was very interesting especially as it interlaces with China's history. I think it gives a very interesting look into the evolution of Chinese sports, politics and government. It kept me interested and I really looked forward to picking it up again every evening to read.



4. I first saw Yao Ming in a Marriott Courtyard lobby during an AAU tour in '98. I was wowed by the secrecy around the guy at the hotel. Since then, I've been waiting for the real story...No fluff. Well, Larmer captures the story of Yao Ming and the rise of basketball in China with his research. Even better, he coorelates the rise of basketball to the development of the Chinese economic boom. Major props...
   
   Now, will critics of Yao please read this book about the environment that surrounded Yao and Shanghai during his development? Will they please realize that Yao would be better suited for a team concept? It's just unfortunate that he started off his NBA career by landing into a thug party in Houston.
   
   Critics have been killing Yao for becoming too soft or for not stepping up to the mantle. Yet, what they don't realize is that Yao is from entirely different culture that professes team not the "I" like the majority of today's NBA superstars. He's a team player and a product of Soviet Training who places the group's interests above personal accolades...Does anyone remember the late '80s version of Arvydas Sabonis?
   
   Larmer touches on all of the subjects surrounding the development of Yao Ming by detailing politics, the reign of Mao, alternative health and herbs, Soviet training methods, Nike, academies, agents, the NBA and sports marketing. Tie this in with 'World is Flat', and you'll see a glimpse of sports in the 21st century.



5. The story of Yao Ming--the NBA's tallest-ever player who stands 7'6''--is necessarily the tale of the "sports machine," of politics, and of international business deals. Caught up in the forces of history, Shanghai's own homeboy has emerged as a symbol of the love-hate, push-pull relationship between China and the West. In Operation Yao Ming, award-winning journalist Brook Larmer has penned an enlightening and somewhat controversial account of the factors that shaped Yao's life, paved his way to the NBA, and rendered him a bridge to and eventually a symbol of East-West relations.
   
   Tension is the key operative word in this story. There is tension between Yao's life as a basketball player and what it might be otherwise, between Yao's life as the star on a Chinese basketball team and as 2002's number one draft for the American NBA, between American basketball training methods and the Chinese sports training system, between communism and capitalism, between the concept of sports as a way to glorify a nation and sports for their own sake. As a pawn in the center of all of this, Yao served as the key to unlock the treasure chest in many high stakes games--sports and otherwise.
   
   While the book is intriguing for its presentation of research on the Chinese basketball system and how its star player winds up in the NBA, a few faults must be mentioned. Operation Yao Ming was derived from a series of articles written for Newsweek between 2000 and 2003. While that means that the book displays the merit of much research, it also unfortunately succumbs to the hazards of allowing all that information to be hastily thrown together. The result is that the reader faces some abrupt topic changes and must suffer egregious repetitions--at times Larmer even uses the exact same adjectives, metaphors, and phrases. It is surprising that a seasoned journalist would not have done a more thorough job editing his material or hired someone to do it for him.
   
   The book also gives nearly equal billing to Yao's idol and rival, Wang ZhiZhi. Though some people may find this annoying, others--especially basketball fans--will enjoy the way Wang and Yao's paths to and experiences with the CBA and the NBA are compared and contrasted, with the tension of one man's successes measured against the other's hard luck and occasional role reversals. I, however, found myself distracted by the extra plotline.
   
   Overall, Operation Yao Ming is both entertaining and interesting. Those who find the inner workings of the Chinese sports machine, international politics, basketball training, the business of basketball, international business, or above all Yao Ming, appealing will enjoy this book.

3 comments about The Way of the White Clouds.

1. This is a wonderful insightful book on Tibet and Buddhism. It opened my mind even more to a different way of thinking and being.



2. The author, Lama Anagarika Govinda, is an erudite and sophisticated buddhist who brings to life a land and a people who will hardly exist in their native Tibet much longer. For someone who wants to have a westener
   explain the history, geography, art ,etc. of the "roof of the world" prior to the Chinese genocide, this is a wonderful guide. Of course there is a terrific description of buddhism in general and the specfic variety practised in Tibet. However, this may not be the best place to start. At least a basic knowledge of Tibet would be helpful, otherwise one could get mired down in so many strange names and concepts.



3. This book is a beautiful introduction to Tibetan culture and landscape and Buddhist beliefs and practices. It's left me longing to see Mount Kailas and the other sacred places he lovingly describes. I've since bought the author's more recent book, "Buddhist Reflections."

4 comments about The Oxford Chinese Minidictionary (Dictionary).

1. I liked this "big-little" dictionary well enough to want a bigger version of it and tried to find it at Amazon.com. I may not have used the correct search technique, because its bigger brother book did not seem to be there for me to buy. The review by Jeffrey Chapman expressed my own feelings and frustations very well. This is a very good dictionary for serious beginners like me that appreciate the integrated blend of Pinyin romanization for the sounds of Mandarin with the real Chinese characters there to be seen and with English words and helpful examples of expressions and sentences.
   A "Big-little" book is a special kind of book I remember as a child. And this memory hints at my age. A "big-little" book was made for kids and had print size consistent with book size (and shape); but the "Oxford Chinese Minidictionary" tried to put adult-size content into child-sized volume!



2. BEWARE! This dictionary looks good. It is compact and neatly presented. The English-Chinese section includes some essentials not always found in other dictionaries: (1) it gives Chinese words in Chinese characters and in Pinyin complete with tones; and (2) it distinguishes, in English, between different senses of English words.

   But the dictionary is a disgrace, totally unprofessional and nearly useless.

   I took a leading article in the Melbourne Age newspaper - the kind of article in straightforward English, without fancy words, that I would give to a mid-level student of English. Its short first paragraph contained the following words, not one of which is in the English-Chinese section of the dictionary: security, endure, terrorism, establish, prompt, territory, constant, covert, action, suggest, seizure, cargo, weapon, numerous, revive, struggle, invasion, negotiate, settlement, image, cling, and detriment. In the same paragraph, common usages not in the dictionary included bound for, and along with. The dictionary does not contain grain, radical, philosophy, biography, motive, lung, darling or despair.

   Words that DO appear include: decaffeinated, evacuate, slot machine, beet root, hockey, showjumping, kangaroo, eggcup, hostage, hoover, and coconut.

   If looking for words reminds you of children looking for "naughty" words in a dictionary at school, there is no need to bother; this book will not help you to talk about penises, vaginas, urine, nipples or puberty, let alone anything more adventurous.

   Many words specifically important in China are missing, at least from the English-Chinese section, including: dynasty, pagoda, province, prefecture, county - even (unbelievably) communist and Marxist.

   Even some words in the Chinese-English section fail to appear in the English-Chinese section, including: dynasty, province, county and pagoda.

   In these days when computers are obtainable in Djibouti, let alone Great Clarendon Street Oxford, it is difficult to understand how a dictionary could get words out of alphabetical order; but obtain comes before observe.




3. I purchased this dictionary prior to a two-week stay in Taiwan. I used it 10 to 30 times a day in a wide variety of situations - mostly to look up vocabulary words in the English-Chinese section, but also on several occasions to decipher what people were saying to me in the Chinese-English section. The pinyin is clear and the examples were great.

   As one of the reviewers above noted, some of the words I looked up were absent, but this only happened a few times and in most cases I was able to find a suitable synonym. I spent over an hour comparing dictionaries in the bookstore, and found this to be true of ALL of the pocket dictionaries I looked at.

   On several occastions people I was speaking with were so impressed with my ability to 'unstick' conversations (and look up words alphabetically by pinyin) with this dictionarry that they would invariably ask to take a look at it and spend some time browsing and discussing it themselves.

   It is also the only one of the pocket dictionaries which I was able to actually get into my pocket, or hold unobtrusively in one hand while I walked around the city.

   The dictionary also includes a simple character/radical lookup chart, which I was actually able to use to look up some written characters I encountered (though this can take several minutes per character).

   The dictionary is intentionally non-symmetrical; the Chinese-English side contains words and concepts you are likely to encounter, and the English-Chinese side contains words and concepts you are likely to want to express. For example, whereas the Chinese side has more words to express things like politeness and family relationships, the English side has more words for more Western things like skydiving and mowing the lawn.

   This might not be the right dictionary for someone translating a Chinese newspaper, but for a 1st-year Mandarin student trying to survive in Taiwan this dictionary was invaluable.




4. This dictionary has its niche ... and it fits me perfectly. I've worked in China for the past two and a half years and this dictionary has been my constant companion. I use it for daily activities (store, post office, bike repair) and it has never let me down. It is also far more compact than any of the other dictionaries belonging to my friends.
   
   The reason I gave this dictionary 5 stars is because it possesses something which no other dictionary has (even others in the Oxford series) : whole phrases that are written in english, pinyin, and characters. When you look up an English word in most other pocket dictionaries they may provide you with a one word chinese equivalent in characters and pinyin. Some of the better ones will even give you an example phrases which shows how the word is used correctly. But here's the problem ... that example phrase is almost always given in Chinese characters. This dictionary gives you an example phrase in pinyin and characters!
   
   Of course this is not the dictionary for you if you want to translate an official paper or engage in advanced chinese studies, but if you are going to live in-country and begin picking up the language on your own then this dictionary is an invaluable resource because it provides you with beautiful examples of word-usage without requiring you to read 100's of characters. It's like a mini-textbook. Nothing else touches it.
   
   As a testament to how helpful this mini-dictionary really is: after seeing how amazing my dictionary was, three separate co-workers of mine gave up using their previous dictionaries and ordered their own copies of the Oxford Chinese mini-dictionary.

No comments about Moleskine City Notebook Beijing (Moleskine City Notebook).

1 comments about Yunnan: China's Most Beautiful Province.

1. This book speaks more than its cover. The pictures are great and capture the story about Laos very accurately. I would cherish this book and let it be a short story teller for my children, and among my friends. I am surprised that delivery is within the week.

1 comments about Hong Kong - Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette (Culture Smart!).

1. As someone who is soon to be an expat in Hong Kong, I've really begun researching about the country and the culture. I was really disappointed in the book. It's very redundant and doesn't give any information that you can't find in Frommers, or any other guide book. It's small and fairly short, probably trying to be a pocket guidebook, but if you also need a guidebook for getting around the city itself, and then language help, it just adds one more book to lug around. It didn't delve into culture as much as I had hoped. It had a long section on Hong Kong history (long for how short the book is overall). History of a country is of course important, but again, I learned everything I read in here from my Frommer's guidebook, and that also gave me maps, places to see, restaurants, hotels and key phrases. The only unique section was on business banquets, which seems to be a bit dated. The only unique tidbit I learned was that showing the soles of your feet is considered rude. For a book supposed to be all about culture, I should have learned more than one new fact, especially as I've only begun educating myself on Hong Kong. If your planning a trip, either business or vacation, or considering a move to Hong Kong, skip this book. There are others out there that are much better.