No comments about Saturday Night in Baoding: A China Memoir.

5 comments about Walk Beijing: Walking Guide to Beijing.

1. I've been to Beijing and can speak a little Chinese. But I would not like being stuck with only this book, or the few Chinese words given on page 113 to rely on for those 5 walking trips, especially if I got lost or off the beaten path. I think a lot more information concerning the culture and other famous attractions should have been included for the price asked for this book. I might would pay $7.99 for it like it is now.
   
   The book is 10" long, 7" wide, and 1/4" thick. It is unwieldy to keep open especially if you try to use it as it tells you too - meaning to show taxi or pedicab drivers the "direction keys" on the pages inside the book. You will have to open the book and shove it into the driver's face and point to where he is supposed to read the tiny bit in Chinese symbols telling him where he is supposed to take you. Not a good idea in my opinion.
   
   And for $16.99 I would expect at least a few colored pictures of some the sites promoted in this book. All photos are in black and white and not very large. It does mention a few important things about health and safety such as the air is bad and can cause respiratory problems, and it's not the most sanitary city on the planet either. You need to wash your hands frequently and never, ever, ever, EVER drink the tap water unless you are wanting to see how sick you can get. The book implies that you will get diarrhea to greater or lesser degree, but that's not true. If you are careful about what you eat and drink (read other guide books for more information about that) you should not get sick. I never got sick and I was there for approximately 2 months. And bringing your own toilet paper is crucial - even in some stores such as Walmart there is no toilet paper. They sell toilet paper but don't stock it in their bathrooms. Heck! There aren't even toilets in Walmart's bathrooms - just holes in the floor! But maybe since the Olympics came they decided to spring for a few western toilets for our comfort, but I'd still bring my own toilet paper.
   
   The book stressed packing light and I very much agree with that. You can find anything - I will stress that point - YOU CAN FIND ANYTHING YOU NEED IN BEIJING. Lost your underwear? Lots to buy there! No adult diapers? No problem! Craving Oreos and diet coke? It's gotcha covered! It discussed the type of voltage used in China and the necessary adapters to bring along, but every hotel I stayed in already had adapters. They even had all the appliances too. I didn't need to waste precious luggage space bringing my blow dryer and necessary adapters along. My second trip I left them at home.
   
   Now I want to mention about the page in this book where you will find some Chinese words and a few phrases. DON'T USE THEM UNLESS YOU ARE READY TO BE SPOKEN TOO IN CHINESE! It's nice to know a few words, but if you manage to say the phrase well enough for a Chinese person to understand you will NOT understand the answer unless they speak English to you. I can't imagine someone who never seriously studied Mandarin to try to ask in Chinese, "Qing wen, fan guan zai nar?" ("Please tell me, where is the restaurant?") A phrase that might be useful is, "Wo ting bu dong" (I hear but don't understand). The best phrase of all to memorize and rip out is, "Wo bu shou Zhongwen, ni hui shuo Ingwen ma?" ("I don't speak Chinese, do you speak English?") and just let it go at that. But I didn't see that phrase in the scant list given.
   
   On page 21 there is a picture of the bare backside of toddler walking about outside. I never saw children in such lack of clothing while in Beijing, but I did see children allowed to squat and do their "business" wherever they happen to be outside. (Didn't see that inside thank goodness). We saw that happen at the entrance to a major temple in Beijing (can't remember the exact one right now) and in a public park. The book should have maybe explained that little cultural oddity somewhat to lessen the shock if you happen to see it.
   
   China is definitely worth visiting. Beijing is incredible, but hiring a guide is of paramount importance unless you are very familiar with Beijing. You will enjoy your trip if it's well-planned out and you've hired a guide. You cannot rely on this book to get you through Beijing but it wasn't written for that purpose. It's just supposed to get you through the 5 walking tours. Overall, the book is acceptable, but still, I wouldn't pay $16.99 for it. I would buy instead what the other reviewers already suggested.



2. I have not had a chance to use this book in Beijing; I am going there in the fall and I'll see if I can add to this review then.
   
   This book is a large sized paperback. The text is easy to read. Basic information about taxis, internet access, cell phones, etiquette, money and health is included.
   
   There are a number of walks, with maps and hints about interesting sites, and how to get there. Restaurants are mentioned as are sights and shopping venues.
   
   I am not sure who this book is aimed at. Scattered through the book are cartoon figures, some olympic mascots, others just cartoon figures. I found this cutesy and annoying. I was also not impressed by the graphics and maps. Everything is black and white and the maps are very simplistic. No buildings are shown and only some of the streets are labeled. The are photographs of some sights but they too are in black and white. There are lots of blank pages for notes.
   
   There are also some lists of how you say things in Chinese. Given that a friend of mine has studied Chinese for years and still has problems speaking I doubt these lists would be helpful.
   
   I think this book would be better if it were smaller and more concise. I'd like it if it was in color and had fewer cartoons and blank pages. I'd like it if it were small enough to carry around and had better maps of the area, of Beijing, and of districts. I'd prefer a book that looked more like a Fodor's city guide.



3. First of all, I've been to Beijing but not when the Olympic was happening.
   One major setback of this book is that it's missing a color map of Beijing.
   And just like the book suggests, it is a "walk" tour book which means there is no "activity" related tour guides inside. It mostly takes you to some tourist attraction sites and that's it.
   And you can walk the whole book in about 3 days and not much excitement. Mostly day time places and no night tourist sites for you to hang-around.
   It doesn't take you to more new establishments and modern developments in this book which I think it really missed a major target.
   Frankly, as a previous visitor to Beijing, most of the locations mentioned in this book I would probably not even go. I will go to some of them but no more than 5 listed in this book.
   Anyhow, it was designed to go with Olympic so it is now very outdated.
   Also, I wish it was in color. The whole book was black and white which was not attractive at all.



4. "Walk Beijing" is a slender book, with a breezy look at some sweet Beijing sites. "Lonely Planet", "Let's Go" and other commercial guides will point out many of the same places, but I enjoyed the fact that a few out-of-the-way sites were highlighted, and plan to check them out on my next trip! For example, I want to visit the shoemaker's that did the last emperor's (Pu-Yi's) shoes! That's pretty cool! And, although I have a favorite restaurant for Peking Duck, they suggest one that I don't visit-I want to check it out and compare!
   
   For first-time travelers, the handy "key" in characters insures that any taxi driver or friendly pedestrian can at least undestand where you want to get to...whether they can actually point you in the right direction is another issue!
   
   I think the basic idea of the book is met-easily accessible, non-intimidating, and it has some handy features. However, I do think that I would see this guide as supplemental to a good map, and another major guidebook with detailed metro information and suggestions on hotels, travel, sites, etc. There are two cartoon mascots for the guide-the Beijing Olympics "FUWA" and a woman cartoon "Suzy". The guide may be already feel a bit outdated-but then, they don't really need the FUWA anyway, and could easily reprint without them.



5. Not only are the five walks described interesting and easy to follow, but the addresses of the major sites are printed in the book in Chinese characters so the book can be shown to Taxi Drivers or others when you need assistance! You will want to carry this book with you everywhere. And there are pages for you to take your own notes.

No comments about The Power Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide.

5 comments about The Monk from Brooklyn: An American at the Shaolin Temple.

1. Antonio Graceffo deserves nothing but kudos for the risks he took leaving his corporate job and New York to spend more time on an adventurous journey for additional perspective with his journalistic eye, the creative craftmanship of his writing, and his backpack. The verdict on his voyage based on the insights derived from his narratives and his publications should give one brief pause before the resounding yes to purchasing his books.



2. From a personal perspective i found this book informative, humourous, energetic, and at times addictive.
   
   A great story of one mans experiences of living at the shaolin temple, and left me curios to know where he went after arriving in Hong Kong.
   
   Will be looking out for Antonios next book



3. I'm not a boxer or Kung Fu expert, but I do enjoy travel stories, so I read this book hoping to get a little insight into what the Shaolin temple was really like. Antonio doesn't hold back with what he writes about. It is the brutal honest truth of one man's experience in a place not too many foreigners have visited. Perhaps if more people wrote about Asia in this manner, people wouldn't have a preconceived view of what the place was really like.
   
   An interesting, informative and very funny book. You don't have to be a monk or kung fu fighter to get something out of this.



4. Its my understanding that this book came to be from a series of articles that the author did and it certainly feels like one long article. In fact if one does a web search, you will find those articles online.
   
   To be fair, this is a very addictive book and I wanted so much to like it. It is an interesting story and the author does come across as being charismatic, worldly and interesting. I did enjoy his insightful comments about Kung Fu. As I also study the martial arts and live in Brooklyn, I thought there was a lot for me to like but in the end I found it to be a very disappointing.
   
   This book is incredibly repetitive. For example you are constantly reminded that the author feels that rural Chinese are filthy, backwards and self-centered people. That Chinese Kung Fu for the most part is so stuck in its past and glory that it cannot feasibly compete against many of the today's mix martial artists. That daily communication with rural Chinese is repetitive and frustrating and is indicative of their mental capabilities. While I have no problem with someone who tells it like it is after several times it starts to sound like constant complaining.
   
   One of the most frustrating issues with this book is that you never really know who the author is nor his background. On my copy there is no brief biography on the author. It is left up to the reader to piece this together which I found frustrating. For example, you start to get hints that he has served in the arm forces and since he likes to talk about his favorite Navy watch cap, one can only assume he was in the Navy. Nope, turns out he was in Army. Part of the problem is that the format of this book is that of journal which explains why it is so repetitive. It's almost as though you found this diary on the street and are left to fill in the blanks on who this person is.
   
   Ultimately I have to say that I found the ending disappointing and sad not because of what ultimately happened to Antonio but rather because the book ended as abruptly as it started. Again this is because you are reading someone's journal. Certainly the message here is that training at the Shaolin Temple should not be idealized because ultimately you are dealing with a system that is so corrupt, unsanitary, backward and so full of conflicts and paradoxes that it will wear down the most well-educated, open minded and well-traveled Westerner. I give kudos to Antonio for taking on this challenge but I can't say that the story telling was all that great for me to recommend it.



5. Graceffo has his moments, but this book reads like a prolonged griping session. The excerpts I had previously read in martial arts magazines suggested that this would be a wry perspective on the Shaolin experience, but reading the book is tough going. Graceffo finds most of the Chinese people he deals with annoying, and seems to resent their presence. This is somewhat odd since he chose to go there, and it is their country, after all. I would also have expected that his time in Taiwan would have prepared him for some of the attitudes he encountered on the mainland.
   He chose to live in the school with the students, but then proceeded to detail the experience as an imposition. Of course two alternatives existed: leave, or at least move to some alternative housing. Traveling there without adequate cash reserves seems to have occasioned most of his misery and insecurity, but it was not as if he didn't have the resources. This failure to plan colors much of his perspective for the rest of the book. Some travel writers do a much better job of adapting to circumstances, so much of this reads like an extended experience of culture shock.
   Not to dispute the author's experiences. I am sure they all happened, but I am not sure the students and many of the people he dealt with deserved some of the criticism they came under here.
   If you are interested in kungfu, you won't find much here, aside from the author teaching his own brand of Brooklyn 'kungfu'. He was apparently not much impressed with techniques he saw there, and frequently made the observation that the kungfu practiced there wouldn't stand up in a street fight.
   Other reviewers have stated that this would have been better suited to appear as a magazine article, and I would agree with that. Even as an article, the gist of this work would probably turn off most readers, except for convicted Sinophobes.
   One would do better, I think, to read Matthew Polley's "American Shaolin", which does not gloss over the discomforts of life in China or shaolin training, but shows that Polley genuinely seems to have made an effort to bridge the cultural gap, rather than retreating into a fortress mentality.
   I suppose that goes to say that both books are more about culture shock and how one deals with it, as opposed to being about the martial arts.
   The other aspect of this book that is somewhat disagreeable is that the author often seems to be touting himself as superior to the Chinese, based upon his income, education, or worldliness. But I often felt as if the author was injecting that persona also to show his readers what a great guy he is. This self-promotion seemed very out-of-place to me, but maybe not to most readers.
   Still, parts of this book are very amusing and interesting, so it certainly rates a look.

No comments about A Little Tour in France.

No comments about The Rivers of the Mandala: Journey to the Heart of Buddhism.

1 comments about Like Froth Floating on the Sea: The World of Pirates and Seafarers in Late Imperial South China (China Research Monograph) (China Research Monograph).

1. Antony's book provides an interesting look into the life of pirates and seafarers in late imperial China. Though the book is short it does give one an interesting look into the life of pirates. The rampant disease, homosexuality, and violence makes for an interesting read. Though I am no expert on pirates or China I found the book informative and well researched. Overall a good, quick read for anyone interested in the lives of Chinese pirates.

1 comments about Mountains of the Middle Kingdom: Exploring the High Peaks of China and Tibet.

1. to China's mountains and its mountaineering history. The photographs in the book included some of the best from Rowell's portfolio and there's quite a bit of writing on the history and background of the mountains as well as from the Rowell's expedition to the mountains.

3 comments about Talking to High Monks in the Snow: An Asian American Odyssey.

1. I was reading "Growing Up Asian American" and had it for over a year. Recently I have been wanting to hear more from other Asian Americans and so, resumed reading the excerpts authors shared. I read Ms. Minatoya's story and was disappointed that there wasn't more! So the next day I went and bought Talking to High Monks in the Snow. And I have just finished reading it. It's one of those books that I come across infrequently, the kind that I absolutely MUST get to the last page before I go to sleep. Because of school I longed for the moments when I could sit and enjoy my newfound treasure, on trains, breaks, at home. Ms. Minatoya is subtle in her writing but it sure hits you when you're through with the sentence. I felt the pangs of pain and embarassment and degradation when she did. It brought back sad memories. The great thing though is that she isn't sappy and she doesn't want my pity just because I relate to her. Ms. Minatoya is eloquently matter-of-fact. With each section of her book, I was amazed more and more. I wished I went to all the places she has been to, Boston, Japan, China, Nepal, and done the things she has. Actually, I admire her because she was and probably still is BOLD and DETERMINED. She has gone to all these countries and actually lived and worked there, not just visit as a tourist. She has taught and communicated deeply with people in these countries. Thanks to Ms. Minatoya, I have this urge to start a club at my college. A reading and discussional group for Asian Americans and non-Asians. I feel that many in my school and city do not appreciate our rich heritage as much as I wish they did. A club that will teach and show through discussions, reading, and debate, the sincere, talented, proud people such as Ms. Minatoya. Talking to High Monks in the Snow is a truly wonderful book for Asians and non-Asians alike. Before I read it for the second time...Thanks Amazon for letting me share my thoughts!

   Debbie Yeung




2. I would suggest that you read this only after reading The Strangeness of Beauty, which is a wonderfully written novel.



3. Traveling always brings a new dimension to yourself. This is an odyssey of a Sansei(the third generation of Japanese-American) woman, who has been wondering about who she is and where she belongs.
   Like Amy Tan's "The Opposite of Fate", she wrotes about her background (her immigrant grandparents, Nisei-Kibei parents, sister and herself) and her identity crisis.
   After growing up, she went on a trip to Asia (Japan, China, and Nepal) and met nice local people, and found some family secrets and her new Asian identity. Eventually, she comes to feel more comfortable to be Asian-American.
   I recently happened to take this book while traveling in Seattle. I'm so glad to find such an amazing book.

2 comments about China (Postcards from).

1. My husband and I visited China in August, 2004 so I ordered this book for my preschool class. To my dismay, on pgs. 10 and 24 the pictures of the Temple of Heaven were labeled as being the Forbidden City!
   
   Pat Van hoose



2. This book has a very unique way of telling it's readers about China through photos that are suppose to be postcards. Each page / Postcard message starts out Dear..... and then goes on to talk about China, then ends with a PS note. The postcards talk about bikes in Beijing, Chinese Food, Forbidden City, Traveling in China, Great Wall, Tierra Cotta Warriors, Longest River in China, Biggest City, Guilin, Staying Fit, Chinese New Year, Chinese Flag and has a map of China. The book also has a glossary.
   
   As far as the 2 photos that the other reviewer wrote about are two different buildings that look simular but I do not think that the photo at the Forbidden City is the Temple of Heaven. There is a typo in the PS: of the Forbidden City that should have been on the Temple of Heaven. If you look at the 2 photos the Temple of Heaven as 2 build roofs where the other photo only has 1 and is much smaller.
   
   I think this would be a good intro book for children, The photos are small, but this is a good base or place to start.