3 comments about Culture Shock! Hong Kong (Culture Shock! Guides).

1. This book contains a lot of good historical information on Hong Kong, but it came out before the biggest historical event of recent years -- the return of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule. I hope the authors are working on an updated version. It would also benefit from the inclusion of a good map to give people planning their first visit to Hong Kong a sense of proportion and location.



2. While I've not been to Hong Kong, I've had supervisors and co-workers who were Hong Kong persons, and have done some reading about this unique cultural mix. Thus I can't speak for the accuracy of all details except to say that the ones I can verify are accurate.

   The authors' knowledge of the SAR is clearly that of the native, and an effort has been made to explain cultural nuances that a non-Hong Kong author might never have seen. (Example: the way of life of the vast majority of low-paid publicly-housed wage labourers, most of whom are Chinese.) Of course, there's a tradeoff: we do not get the perspective of a non-Hong Kong person as to what stands out. Ideally one author would have been native and another an immigrant.

   It was published, however, before the 1997 handover, so a lot has probably changed since then and I can't recommend it for those interested in the politics and government of Hong Kong. For those interested in the culture--which will change only slowly, barring drastic action by Beijing--it's a very useful reference.




3. When I lived in Hong Kong in the 90's, Wei's book was a useful introduction to ways to behave around Hong Kong hosts and clients. But the book suffers from a typical Hong Kong problem, the reluctance to prepare the first-time visitor for the more unpleasant "underbelly" of Hong Kong society, which any westerner has to deal with. There is a general sense of insecurity in Hong Kong society which affects all interactions with westerners, business or social, and grows out of the tragic influx of millions of refugees fleeing China to the safety of British Hong Kong - this aspect of Hong Kong is not dealt with by Wei, but is dealt with in Jan Morris's Hong Kong (which contains much other fascinating information). A knowledge of this tragic history (which is often too painful for Hong Kong Chinese to discuss - like any criticism of Hong Kong, it causes loss of "face"), is essential for any understanding of how the place works. The unpleasant fallout from this historical situation, in terms of the societal frustration and bad public behaviour it causes, is dealt with brilliantly in Bo Yang's The Ugly Chinaman and the Crisis in Chinese Culture. Two novels of Hong Kong, Timothy Mo's The Monkey King and Paul Theroux's Kowloon Tong, offer suprisingly accurate takes on many actions and attitudes that the vistor and short term resident in Hong Kong will encounter, but can again be too painful to discuss. All the above books deal with things Betty Wei doesn't, and knowing about them will enrich your understanding of this interesting city during your visit/domicile there. Also helpful for understanding Hong Kong is the "classic" Hong Kong book, Myself a Mandarin, by Austin Coates.

3 comments about Lonely Planet Road Trip Hudson River Valley (Road Trip Guide).

1. I just returned from a trip to the Hudson River Valley using this book as my primary guide. WIlliams' style was entertaining, and her restaurant advice terrific when it came to The Calico Restaurant in Rhinebeck (we had a fabulous meal) but important details were neglected.
   
   WIlliams' accurately described the town of Hudson, with the town center choc-a-bloc full of antique shops, surrounded by urban decay. With a love of antiques, I planned a trip to Hudson to for an extensive 'tique crawl only to discover 99% of the shops are open ONLY Friday-Sunday. Hudson being far north of my base, the travel time ate much of the day making a last minute change of plans a real challenge.
   
   Likewise, she neglected to mention in any detail the Institute for Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, which is a fascinating place with an excellent perennial garden and very pleasant, helpful and knowlegable staff. Fortunately, we stumbled onto this place by accident, but it was a trip highlight.
   
   Short shrift was similarly given to the many wineries in the area, merely mentioning their existence but with few details.
   
   The maps were helpful, and as I mentioned earlier, our lunch in Rhinebeck at the Calico Restaurant was divine so she gets credit for that. Otherwise, think of this book as a basic intro only and plan on doing much more research before you depart for the Hudson River Valley.



2. I am a Lonely Planet enthusiast and usually use them as my main source during trips and collect them for armchair reading. I saw this and picked it up since I live near the area and have not ventured there in a long time.
   
   This book should only be purchased if you already have the Moon Handbook to New York. I just got the Moon after using this and another guide on previous trips and I feel foolish.
   
   First of all, the money you save by buying this little diary may very well be spent anyway since Ms. Williams doesn't seem to have any interest in anything but high end B&Bs, so if you are on a budget and don't mind a clean but boring room there are no listings, that's none: zero. I found places like this but at random, and almost stayed in a dangerous area because I knew of no alternatives. Moon lists all acceptable motels and B&Bs and lets you decide what you want and how much dough you have.
   
   Second, Ms. Williams likes cool coffee shops, eatieries, shops, but doesn't seem too keen on turning out much copy on historical and cultural sights, so there is precious little coverage. Moon's background info is superior and again, they list all the options and let you decide. Moon New York has more overall info on Hudson Valley despite the fact that it covers the rest of the state as well, and if your car can go over 40 mph I'm sure there's something in a neighboring area that suit your tastes.
   
   And I know LP has other regional guides, but would it kill them to throw in more coverage of the Catskills? We're not talking about Miami to Greenland here, just what's within a two hour drive.



3. I bought this book before I read the reviews, and I'm glad I did. The Hudson River Valley is expensive. That's why no cheap lodgings are in the book. We stayed at the Peekskill Inn and found it very affordable as well as charming. The book is small enough for an easy carry - as befits a weekend tripper. It's nicely divided into possible weekend trips so the reader can choose which area fits their mood. Each area gets a thorough review of what it has to offer - not just food, lodging, cultural events, but an understanding of where the area has been and what it has to offer the traveler. The icing on the cake is that the book is fun to read, e.g. "Woodstock feels like an unmade bed - comfortable but disheveled."

5 comments about In Xanadu: A Quest.

1. I really enjoyed this book! Each little observation is spiced with whit, and brilliant inuendo. Each story line intrigued me more and more and to each amateur adventurer out there, I say you'll love it!



2. Even if you did not know that this was one of Dalrymple's earlier works, there is quite a bit in the narrative to suggest this. That is not to say that book is not really worth your time - it definitely is - but what is even more interesting is to see & observe the elements of erudition & wonder, & story-telling, that have always been so compelling about WD.
   
   But this is also personal story of a twenty-two year old - complete with a heartbreak - dashing across two continents. WD has certainly tried to talk about many personal episodes - & some of these are as hilarious as they're self-deprecating - but there are definitely pieces, thoughts, & events that probably would not be part of a more mature WD work.
   
   This book is the story of WD & his companions chasing down of Xanadu in Mongolia with a phial of oil from the Holy Sepulcher & all that happens in between.
   
   Informed, eccentric, & never dull.



3. 
   Well not quite, but sort of.
   
   At least this is what I kept thinking of as the author (referred to as Fatso by Mick, an expatriate hippie in Kashgar) and his travel companion Laura (she's the one clad in black) head out across Iran.
   
   They are on a madcap quest, ostensibly to retrace the tracks of Marco Polo in his journey from Jerusalem to the seat of power of Kublai Khan in Xanadu, bearing oil from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
   
   Dalrymple, a student at Cambridge, came up with this idea to kill time between college terms. Presumably the quasi academic cover was in some way necessary, and the intermittent references to Polo and his voyage are mildly interesting. But really this is a chronicle of a road trip plain and simple - a 1980's kind of On the Road.
   
   The Silk Road, that is.
   
   Anyway, all this makes for idle but entertaining reading, filled with intelligent observations and humorous snippets.
   
   Here, for example, is the English menu from a restaurant in Turkey:
   
   Kujuk Ayas Family Restrant
   
   Ingliz Menuyu
   
   Soap
   
   Ayas soap
   Turkish tripte soap
   Sheeps foot
   Macaront
   Water pies
   
   Eats From Meat
   
   Deuner kepab with pi
   Kebap with green pe
   Kebap in paper
   Meat pide
   Kebap with mas patato
   Samall bits of meat grilled
   Almb chops
   
   Vegetables
   
   Meat in eathernware stev pot
   Stfue goreen pepper
   Stuffed squash
   Stuffed tomatoes z
   Stuffed cabbages lea
   Leek with finced meat
   Clery
   
   Salad
   
   Brain salad
   Cacik - a drink made ay ay
   And cucumber
   
   Frying Pans
   
   Fried aggs
   Scram fried aggs
   Scurum fried omlat
   Omlat with brain
   
   Sweets and Rfuits
   
   Stewed atrawberry
   Nightingales nests
   Virgin lips
   A sweet dish of thinish batter with butter
   Banane
   Meon
   Leeches
   
   Recommended reading if ever you find yourself on an over civilized vacation.



4. I read this book on an airplane journey, and laughed so hard at some entries that I cried.
   And then I got depressed, because I realized that at the author's age, I would have been incapable of the deft writing and erudition he displayed.



5. In the mid 1980s, William Dalrymple (then in his early 20s) made a journey retracing the steps of Marco Polo's famous journey during the 1200s, from the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to the site of Shangdu (or Xanadu, as is better known in literature), the summer palace of Kublai Khan, in Outer Mongolia, China. In reality, though, since Soviet Central Asia was then barred to western travel, he deviated in part from Marco Polo's route, going through the Baluchi desert, in southern Iran and Pakistan, and then up the Indus river, and through the then newly opened Karakoram highway to western China, instead of traveling to China through Samarkand and other cities in Central Asia. The book itself is a mixed bag, there is some interesting things in it (at least he did some homework in terms of research) but there are far too many of the sort of banal, smug and self-centered comments and experiences you see in much of the travel writing of westerners as they go through the third world.

5 comments about Lost in Tibet: The Untold Story of Five American Airmen, a Doomed Plane, and the Will to Survive.

1. Not a typical story about World War II. Five airmen parachute from their crippled supply airplane and end up lost in Tibet. At that time, Tibet was somewhat independent from China. The airmen's landing in Tibet causes a huge political firestorm between Great Britain, Tibet, and China. The airmen are in the middle of this. The result is a diplomatic balancing act as the airmen leave Tibet.
   
   This is a nice little story about World War II. The authors write a readable entertaining book about the story of the men and the magic land of Tibet. This is a very enjoyable read.



2. I bought this as a gift so just going on the quality of the appearance it was excellent. I was really impressed with how quickly it was shipped to my home during the last week before christmas. Great job!



3. I stopped reading a few pages into the first chapter. I couldn't quit thinking about the ridiculous false statements in the 2nd paragraph of the 1st chapter. First it says "the pilot decided to crash," after the engines catch fire, but he doesn't actually crash. Then it says the cause of the fire was because the spark plug gap was too wide which "let raw fuel run straight through the engines and out the turbines and there it had ignited."
   
   The part about crashing is sensationalism. The part about the sparkplugs is completely wrong since they have nothing to do with the flow of fuel. I'm sure the topic of this story is true but with that many errors on the first page of the first chapter I'm going to find another book on this topic I can trust.



4. I enjoyed this book because I was a pilot flying the "Hump" at the same time these men were. Their story is exciting, well written and spell binding and will interest those who enjoy adventure. Almost a thousand aircraft were lost on the "aluminum trail" between India and China. A lot was learned in that operation at the expense of the lives of the young inexperienced airmen who took part. Lost In Tibet gives one an insight of the flying conditions we experienced and also the complicated wartime politics in the Tibetan area of that time. It's a good "read".



5. 
   For those hauling cargo over the Hump, the enemy was not the Japanese but rather what is probably the harshest weather and terrain on the earth.
   
   On their ill fated flight the crew is lost and hundreds of miles off course when they finally are down to their last drops of fuel and bail out over an unknown land. Much to their surprise they ended up in a remote part of Tibet.
   
   Most of the book is their story of their long journey to safety. The book also offers an early insight into the China-Tibet political struggles that continue today.
   
   Very well written and an easy read for a rainy day.

5 comments about "China and the New World Order: How Entrepreneurship,Globalization, and Borderless Business Are Reshaping China and the World".

1. George Gu provides a depth of understanding that distinguishes his work from most other business books. His wide network of contacts gives insight into emerging trends. He provides useful context that western authors often lack and Chinese authors frequently take for granted.



2. Base on the number of book in relation to this matter so far I believe that no one has come close to capturing "new China's" spirit and meaning as Gu. After reading his second volume I found it to be hugely insightful on the current events of China and global affairs. It greatly explores the key factors that shape Chinese and global development in the next stages. It gives tremendous info and analysis on the Chinese government, politics, business and economy for any one's interest.
   
   There's a huge amount of info on foreign businesses inside China. You will be able to see about twenty five American and global multinationals inside of China that are studied. In the meantime it gives us a very provocative analysis on China's new role in the world. Gu details this general picture of how China is walking away from a practical society and embracing an open, restless and dynamic society. It claims that an overextended, self-appointed bureaucracy remains the key problem for China. To overcome countless technical barriers, greater openness, entrepreneurship and global involvement is all needed. Again, it's very insightful on the issues between China, Taiwan, Japan, India and West. I will add that his analyses on Japan-China line up are very interesting as well as Taiwan. There' a tremendous amount of info and analysis on China's financial, banking, insurance and stock market.
   
   Author George Zhibin Gu is a very outspoken and a well known Chinese journalist who has generally covered mergers and acquisitions, capital activities, business expansion, and restructuring. He's an insider who gives us scrupulous examination on current China and global affairs which is more than a reason why you should grab hold to this book.



3. This new book from Dr. George Zhibin Gu is a geo-economics and geopolitical masterpiece from an insider, someone that thrives his consulting work and daily life inside China, not writing or comment from a comfortable chair in London or New York paid by a western think tank, or only for academic proposals. His challenge is to write for a broad audience out of China. I must refer his clever suggestions about Taiwan - a political proposal for a a federation - and the way he sees the go global from Chinese emergent multinationals. It is needed a lot of courage for an insider to be so clear in his proposals and to identify the old Chinese problem - bureaucracy, the same that stopped admiral Cheng Ho and the Discoveries in the XV Century, that closed China for so many centuries and gave an opportunity for foreign powers to humiliate China, hyper-bureaucracy that in the Mao period pulled China for chaos and economic and social distress. China and the New World Order is a must reading. Jorge Nascimento Rodrigues, editor of www.gurusonline.tv and translator of Made in China (published in Portuguese language).



4. Part reference, part musing, part insightful and timely analysis, George Zhibin Gu's latest book "China and the New World Order: How Entrepreneurship, Globalization, and Borderless Business are Reshaping China and the World" is a welcome and refreshing read among the endless new titles printed on China today.
   
   Picking up on a focus of his previous book "China's Global Reach...," Gu goes further and identifies the chief impediment to China's latest and perhaps most difficult transition as the Chinese state itself. Gu reveals the seemingly historical inevitability of China's vast government apparatus but explains that Communist Party bureaucracy is unique in Chinese experience in the size and scope of its all-encompassing control.
   
   In topics relative to today's readers Gu ably demonstrates through the book that changes in China come from the revived entrepreneurial instinct of the Chinese. Along with huge foreign investment China's ever-growing private sector is the outside influence that is challenging Chinese bureaucracy as never before. But while the Chinese people struggle to create a law-based society and break the bureaucracy's grip on all aspects of economic life, the Chinese state seeks an equal footing among world national powers.
   
   "China and the New World Order" is nicely segmented into short but highly relevant chapters. As in his earlier works Gu deftly examines the pros and cons of numerous hot-button issues on China. For example he takes on the Taiwan - China knot and proposes an interesting solution, a federation or federal system as a means toward meaningful (and mutually beneficial) reunification although his federal system shares more similarity to a commonwealth in the opinion of this reviewer. Gu's look at delicate state of Japan and China relations reveals that Japan remains as apprehensive over Chinese growth and potential as it was in the past. In examining the India versus China debate Gu shows that there is far less competition (as Western press prefers to portray it) and more similarities between the two giants of Asia.
   
   There is plenty of current information here and the detailed contents and summaries make the book a good quick reference for anyone with an interest in what's happening right now in China. And there are goodies such as a lengthy interview with Mark Mobius and a foreword by Hoover Institute fellow William Ratliff.
   
   At one point in his analysis, Gu intriguingly compares the struggle in China to the old European church-state alliance. With that view in mind, what may be needed next and with luck what Chinese entrepreneurs may succeed in bringing is a Chinese "Glorious Revolution."



5. China has constantly been referred to as the sleeping giant. In the last 30 years or so it has surprised many with its radical economic transformation. Having been a non-capitalist country for many years, the sudden capitalist experiment undertaking was not only the surprise but also a bold step towards economic prosperity. China has formulated a vibrant front to strengthen its manufacturing, trade and finance industries to much success. It is a great example or a good case study for an International Business class.
   
   The impact this has or will create to the rest of the world is huge. With its vast consumption of raw materials e.g. copper, aluminum, cement & oil, other parts of the world would soon start competing for the same raw materials from other nations hence sky rocketing their prices. Just a few years ago, fleets of bicycles were visible in almost every major Chinese city. Now that has become history with many of its residents developing an appetite for automobiles. China therefore has become a marketer's haven for selling automobiles. This is a direct result of its globalization campaign.
   
   This campaign has come with its drawbacks. Environmental degradation has some very concerned. With its massive carbon dioxide and other industrial emissions, China is becoming one of the fastest regions to raise eye brows on issues regarding environmental protection (the US and China will atleast have something in common in that regard). With the economic growth, corruption & cronyism have cropped up. This has also lead to tension between China and the USA especially regarding the large China/USA trade deficit gap.
   
   China is also holding a large cache of dollar reserves which it then uses to purchase US T-Bills and other investment in the US . The US in some ways has come to rely on foreign investment for its own economic growth. Just today ( 3/5/08 ), Federal regulators said that the country needs to open its gates to foreign sovereign wealth funds. They went ahead to state that these funds foster domestic growth and provide financial stability to US financial markets and US companies.
   
   China is also flexing its muscles to other areas like Australia and Africa . Africa has been important to China because of its vast resources of raw material e.g. copper, aluminum, uranium & oil. In the next few years, this economic sleeping giant will be a great economic super-power to recon with.
   
   Hezron Karanja, Los Angeles, CA

1 comments about Passport Korea: Your Pocket Guide to Korean Business, Customs & Etiquette (Passport to the World) (Passport to the World).

1. This is a slim book with excellent information. Absolutely crucial for anyone doing business in Korea. If you're planning to visit Korea - and do plan to visit Korea, it's a great introduction to the culture and the people. Also it's well written and a fast read.

5 comments about Fearless on Everest: The Quest for Sandy Irvine.

1. Julie Summers sensitive telling of the story of Sandy Irvine is not only a great read, but is written with intelligence, grace and wit. Irvine's personality looms large in the book, and the reader is easily captivated by his infectious personality. Explorer, lover, adventurer, journalist -- one can easily imagine Summer's Irvine on the silver sceen, portrayed by Harrison Ford or Mel Gibson. This wonderful book will be enjoyed by climbers, mountaineers, armchair explorers and laypeople alike. A real tour de force, the only question that arises after reading is: who is going to option it, and when is the movie coming out?



2. Fearless On Everest: The Quest For Sandy Irvine is an intensely personal, candid, and informative account of the life of a young man who died at the age of 22 while on an expedition to climb Mt. Everest. Written with a narrative smoothness that completely engages the reader's attention, biographer and Irvine family member Julie Summers includes newly discovered letters and photographs and specifically addresses a long-debated question in mountaineering circles: Why did George Leigh Mallory choose the young, less-experienced Andrew Irvine as his partner on so hazardous an enterprise? Also very highly recommended for mountaineering enthusiasts are three related titles from Mountaineers Books addresses the doomed Mallory-Irvine expedition: Ghosts Of Everest: The Search For Mallory & Irvine (699-5, $.....); The Mystery Of Mallory & Irvine: Fully Revised Edition (726-6, $.....); The Wildest Dream: The Biography Of George Mallory (741-X, $......).



3. This is a very well-written and researched book. It provides an introspective and analytical look into the man of mystery on the expedition...Sandy Irvine. The photos, family anecdotes, and treasure trove of memorabilia recently discovered provided a full and satisfying read. You can't know all about the 1924 expedition until you know about what made Sandy Irvine tick.



4. I'm afraid I have to disagree with other reviewers of this book. The writing is often awkward and grammatically challenged (to use a current euphemism). And Sandy Irvine comes across as a rather ordinary young man, self centered, good at sports, and good with his hands, but lacking in any sort of intellectual sophistication. It was this very sophisitcation and intellectualism that made Mallory the interesting figure he remains. Had Mallory been a mere hearty, he would have far less interesting. In contrast to Mallory, Irvine strikes one as eactly what this biography tries to convince one he was not, i.e., a follower who had little idea of what Mallory was leading him into.

   Because of Irvine's commoness and the bad writing (Where oh where was an editor!?), this is hardly worth the time, and certainly not worth the money.




5. Frequently overshadowed by his mentor and climbing partner, George Mallory, Sandy Irvine is long overdue a biography worthy of his accomplishments. I can understand the frustration that people have with encountering someone not driven by ego or the incessant need to belittle others. In that respect perhaps Sandy is a bit too normal by modern standards and can be accused of being a little too nice. Nonetheless in his short life he still managed to accomplish some very great things and this book does a wonderful job of highlighting those moments. It is not perhaps all one could hope for in a study of the 1924 Everest Expedition but then no other book has set a suitably high standard to be considered authoritative. As a collection of data which many overlook this has to be considered a must read for the Everest fanatic.

No comments about Me No Speak: China.

2 comments about Marco Polo: A Photographer's Journey.

1. Very facinating. I've always been interested in Marco Polo, as has the author. He really leads you through the journey and makes you wonder at the courage Marco Polo had for his travels.



2. Good photos and details. Purchased as a gift for my wife and she is totally pleased

1 comments about Visiting Historic Beijing: A Guide to Sites and Resources.

1. Considering the historic importance of Beijing, the collection of reliable, English-language historical guides for the visitor is remarkably small. Classic English-language texts from the 20s and 30s are long out of print and in any case describe things which disappeared decades ago. Local publications in Beijing's bookshops feature glossy color shots and vapid, hyperbolic text written by tourism bureaucrats. International guidebooks can only include the most basic historical data.
   The underlying problem is that most of the work of Chinese scholars of the city's monuments and sites is accessible only to specialists. Robert L Thorp is one specialist who has shared his knowledge with the general reader. His new publication, Visiting Historic Beijing, is the book I wish I had owned when I first arrived in the city. The author, deeply versed in Chinese language and archaeology, does an expert job of making the complexities of his field understandable to the non-specialist. The first chapter deftly sketches the pre-Ming history of the capital and describes the few remaining monuments from that era.
   The next chapter turns to the walls and gates of the city, first setting the scene by describing the process of urban design at the beginning of the Ming period, then tracing the construction (and destruction) of the city's walls, before turning to a detailed description of the monuments that have survived into the present era.
   The remaining chapters follow the same pattern, creating a historical and cultural backdrop against which the chapter's descriptions, diagrams, notations and photos come to life. Information boxes throughout the book draw disparate facts together or cast sidelights on topics as diverse as the divine status of the emperor, the history of the palace museum and the best elevated views of the capital. Other bonuses include suggested walking tours and books for further reading.
   We can regret the absence of color plates, but it is actually a good compromise that keeps the book affordable. A more substantial, if still mild irritation is the author's politeness to the Chinese authorities in glossing over the wholesale destruction of historic areas in the modern era: he makes much of the city's admirable 2002 heritage conservation plan, but doesn't mention that this document was all but ignored in 2008 during the destruction of the famous Qianmen district to make way for a faux-historical retail precinct.
   But this is a quibble: Visiting Historic Beijing is invaluable to anyone who wants a reliable, readable, scholarly description of the historic treasures of the Chinese capital.