China Survival Kit for Tourists

Contents:

1. Be wary of Lonely Planet

2. Try MaskofChina.com

3. Other Useful Websites

1. Be wary of Lonely Planet

The Lonely Planet Travel Guide is usually a safe bet as the best guide book on the market for any country. While it is a decent general guide to most cities in China, many people complain that a lot of the information in recent editions is woefully out of date, and not very useful, possibly even detrimental when making travel plans. In Lonely Planet's defense though, how can you possibly write a guidebook for a country whose main pastime is flattening buidlings and erecting massive skyscrapers in their place? All the same, they should do a better job.

Fortunately, the good people at Lonely Planet have almost redeemed themselves by creating the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree:

This is a web forum where travelers all over the world can post comments and ask questions regarding not only China, but any country in the world. If you're looking for information about China, look under the Northeast Asia branch of the Thorn Tree. When planning a trip to China, this should be one of your primary resources. Just search for the information you are looking for, or just post your inquiry directly. You should have the answers you need within hours.

Bottom line: You can take a Lonely Planet Guide Book with you, but don't concern yourself with buying the most recent edition. Any relatively recent copy will do. Lets Go China, or other travel guides might prove useful as well.

Back to top

2. Mask of China

I could scour the net for all the useful links for travelers. But instead, I'll just refer you to someone who's done it before. Maskofchina.com is the website of a good friend of mine from Canada, who spent a couple of years based in Dalian in Northeastern China. He has traveled extensively around China, and has written interesting accounts of many different areas in China.

Look in the sidebar on the right. The Mainland China Travelogue section gives a good account of many popular tourist destinations in China, and you will find many helpful hints there. The Traveling Around Mainland China section is filled with useful links, and it's a great resource for any traveler in China. Traveling by train is probably the best way to get around in China, and there is a link on his page to a useful train schedule. He is presently in Hong Kong, and you can read his current weblog at www.maskofchina.com/hk. Interesting content and great photos!

Back to top

3. Other useful sites:

Back to top