5 comments about Martin Yan's Culinary Journey Through China.

1. The book starts off by literally taking the reader through a journey - A journey that totaled more than 65,000 miles throughout China over land, sea, air, and waterways during a three-month period. I learned something new myself reading this book. I have always tried to explain to people how to understand the balance of flavors, taste and textures of food. Martin Yan explains it in one easy thought - yin and yang. "Yin represents the feminine, yielding, darker, more mysterious forces, while yang stands for the masculine, harder, brighter and hotter ones. In the world of food, yin might be cooler, moister, softer foods, like winter melon, asparagus or crabmeat. Yang might take the form of chiles, ginger, fried foods or red meat." The concept of the yin and yang also fit the textures of the food as well. The next part of the book talks about special equipment, tools and techniques. The recipes include Hot and Sour Beijing Dumplings, Duck Soup, Seafood in an Orange Basket (an incredible dish that is so easy to make), Minced Poultry with Walnuts in Lettuce Cups, Mongolian Roast Lamb, Mushrooms in Fragrant Broth, Steamed Garden Vegetables, Fish in a Bamboo Leaf, Steamed Spareribs in Plum Sauce, Tofu Custard with Tropical Fruits, Honey Walnut Prawns, Ginger-Date Wontons, Asparagus with Sweet and Pungent Dressing, and Spicy Fun See Noodle Salad. The recipes are well written with a little history for an item of each recipe. Food styling and photography of this book are outstanding. Some of the ingredients in the book will only be found in specialty shops or Oriental markets, i.e. dried black mushrooms, nori (Japanese seaweed), Sichuan peppercorns and dried bean thread noodles. This book was aiming to be the first book to receive a perfect score from me, until the very end of the cookbook. Martin Yan wrote an incredible book. I felt the last two pages of advertising took a little bit away from the book however



2. This is my most used cookbook. Great explanations and easy instructions. Anyone can with this cookbook.



3. I bought this book when it first came out after watching Martin Yan's cooking show on PBS. He's a great chef and teacher. I was lucky to buy this book as my first intro to chinese cooking. If I had bought another book, I might have been too intimidated. But Martin Yan's book of simple recipes with complex flavors was the perfect start to learn how to cook chinese. The recipes are easy, simple and delicious. You'll want to cook them over and over again, and before you know it, you'll begin to experiment on your own, using the simple techniques you learn in this book. I've made almost every recipe in it, and nearly every one has turned out great. From the pot-stickers to the soups to the salads to the stir-frys, all of them tasty and easy to make. The one thing I disagree with Martin Yan on is his saying "don't stare-fry, stir-fry," meaning that you should always keep stirring the food around in your wok (or fry pan). I've found many recipes benefit from a little charring here and there, so less stirring can often add tremendous flavor in some of the dishes. Anway, I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have over the years! It's one of the best in this genre of cookbooks.



4. I love this book. Not only is Martin Yan entertaining, he provides a look at his learning experience traveling through Asia and it's culinary history. There is also great information on building an Asian pantry, what supplies and cookware you need, ingredient information and how to use everything. Recipes are very easy to follow and he provides easy directions. Your favorites are a lot easier to cook at home than you'd think!



5. Martin Yan's book is a treasure. Many friends think I can do Chinese cooking effortlessly. Maybe not so, but with this cookbook you can make some basic and some not so basic Chinese dishes. Kung Pao and Hot and Sour soups are made over and over, and I've yet to tasted better in any restaurant. Hail to the chef!
   
   Barry Marshall

No comments about The Rough Guide to Beijing 3 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

2 comments about National Geographic Traveler: China, 2d Ed. (National Geographic Traveler).

1. I haven't had time to read and use the whole book. What I have read and used is very good. I haven't checked out the hotel & restaurant information because I didn't need it. Some of the photos were good for a basis understanding.



2. "China" tries to cover too much (including Tibet and Inner Mongolia) to be useful as a tour book (imagine trying to cover the U.S. in < 400 pages), and lacks enough photos (none the size or quality associated with "National Geographic") to qualify as a treat for the senses. In addition, it totally fails to address the enormous changes in China via its new construction and industrialization.
   
   "China" does offer good tips on bargaining (in some situations), smoking, avoiding frank political discussions, renting rooms near a Karaoke ounge, jostling (vs. lines), and general lack of credit card acceptance. However, travelers also likely wonder whether eg. street signs are in English the costs of touring China, and good sources for tours. They will continue to wonder after reading "China."
   
   Suggest other sources and the Internet.

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.

1 comments about Travelers' Tales China: True Stories (Travelers' Tales Guides).

1. What is China? Reduced to facts and figures, China is amazing and overwhelming. 1.3 billion people live within its borders. Almost 4 million square miles in area. A history stretching back countless millennia. A modern history filled with catchphrases and people with instant recognition: Mao, Tiananmen, Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping. Its economic and political system defy conventional analysis--a totalitarian, self-proclaimed Communist state increasingly open to market capitalism. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of books have been written on China ... travelogues, fiction and non-fiction about its history, its culture both modern and ancient. Yet, despite all the numbers and facts, the "real" China seems quite distant. The question remains: What is China?
   
   Travelers' Tales China takes a different approach. Rather than tackling China at the macro-level (an impossible task), it attempts to portray China through a mosaic of stories, some quite mundane, some quite profound; all wonderfully written and vivid in their description and imagery. The writers' perspectives are ideal for the task: as travelers they are confronted by the perpetual travelers' paradox. As the outsider, they are distanced from their subject. Quite often, this detachment is self-imposed, other times it is brought upon by outside forces. However, this detachment is coupled with a curiosity, an eye for detail, a hunger for meaning extended to a degree that would not be sought had they insider status.
   
   Most books on China that I have seen are like a photograph taken on a day with a blinding sun. The subject is blanched by the extreme illumination, shadows are banished, yet the scene is still oddly unclear. Paraphrasing the Dao De Jing, the China that can be told of is not the true China. By attempting to consciously capture China in words, what comes into focus is not the subject but the author. In contrast, the Travelers' Tales is like the scene on its cover. By inviting shadows, allowing ambiguity, and eschewing overt commentary, the book does not describe China--it BECOMES China. Perhaps it is just the "Travelers' China," but even this is a better outcome than most other books I have seen.

No comments about To Grandmother's House: A Visit to Old-Town Beijing.

1 comments about The Warlord's Fish.

1. Chuan makes his third appearance in Virginia Walton Pilegard's The Warlord's Fish, this time as an artist's apprentice for a Chinese warlord in superbly crafted story for young readers about the compass. Chuan's cleverness blends with an artist's talents in putting together a tool which will buy their freedom in this involving story.

1 comments about Xi'an, Shaanxi: Chang'an and the Terracotta Army, First Edition (Odyssey Illustrated Guide).

1. I purchased the book with the idea it was more of a history book and found out it was a travel book and not easy to follow. Great pictures and some good advice for travelers to china.

No comments about Cambodia: The Background, the Issues, the People (Oxfam Country Profiles Series).

No comments about Travel Around China: The Guide to Exploring the Sites, the Cities, the Provinces, and More (Travel Around).