Review by Barb & Ron Kroll

Travel Guide Book Title:

Beijing
(Fodor's Travel) ISBN 978-1400017393 1400017394

Theme:

Beijing renewed, renovated and rejuvenated the city for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Fodor's Beijing guidebook helps visitors discover the inside scoop about China's capital. Travelers learn about Beijing's hotels, restaurants and shops, what to see and do, and how to get there — all useful information for tourists.

Sample Items:

The Historical Sights Planner section provides information on getting around, editor's picks, Beijing's hutongs (ancient alleyways), recommended reading, important dates in Beijing history, with tourist sight hours, admission prices and etiquette.

Notable Elements:

The Beijing Planner section discusses weather, visitor centers, attractions, sightseeing tours, itineraries, museums, monuments, parks, festivals, 2008 Olympic venues and 21st Century China. It describes what is in Beijing's neighborhoods, with information on restaurants and getting there by subway, bus and taxi.

Planning sections focus on shopping, arts and nightlife, where to eat, where to stay and the best side trips. The Getting Started chapter provides information on websites, visas, health advice, flights, rental cars, local taboos, electricity, currency exchange, washrooms and tipping.

A short vocabulary guide includes common greetings, grammar and advice on pronunciation. At the end of each chapter, there's a helpful list of points of interest in pinyin and Chinese characters.

An excellent, very detailed, removable folding map is very useful for finding your way around Beijing.

Tone / Style:

Fodor's Beijing covers all the basics from making phone calls to mailing postcards, from customs to trip insurance, from food to money, from time zones to booking your trip. It includes prices, addresses, hours and dates of opening, websites, maps and suggested itineraries with tips on how to get around. Comments from readers provide travel updates.

Beijing is packed with information. The planning guide is full of tips on what to see, what to do, when to go and how to get there.

Visuals:

Black and white images illustrate sections and subsections. There are eight pages of color photographs between Historical Sights and Shopping.

Contents:

Planning Your Trip

Beijing

1. Experience Beijing
   • Top Attractions
   • Sightseeing Tours
   • City Itineraries
   • Museums & Monuments
   • Getting Outside: Parks & Lakes
   • Discover the Huton
   • Beijing Then & Now
   • Fabulous Festivals
   • The 2008 Olympic Games
2. Neighborhoods
   • Dongcheng District
   • Xicheng District
   • Southern Districts: Chongwen & Xuanwu
   • Chaoyang District
   • Haidian District
3. Historical Sights
   • Tiananmen Square
   • Forbidden City
   • Temple of Heaven
   • Summer Palace
   • Old Summer Palace
   • Niujie (Ox Street) Mosque
   • Lama Temple (Yonghe Temple)
   • Confucius Temple (with the Imperial Academy)
   • Ancient Observatory
   • Big Bell Temple
   • More Historical Sights
4. Shopping
   • Dongcheng District
   • Xicheng District
   • Southern Districts: Chongwen & Xuanwu
   • Chaoyang District
   • Haidian District
5. Arts & Nightlife
   • The Arts
   • Nightlife
6. Where to Eat
   • Dongcheng District
   • Xicheng District
   • Southern Districts: Chongwen & Xuanwu
   • Chaoyang District
   • Haidian District
7. Where to Stay
   • Dongcheng District
   • Xicheng District
   • Southern District: Chongwen
   • Chaoyang District
   • Haidian District
   • Beijing Airport Area
8. Best Side Trips
   • Thirteen Ming Tombs
   • Fahai Temple
   • Jietai Temple
   • Marco Polo Bridge
   • Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site
   • Yunju Temple
   • Eastern Qing Tombs

• Vocabulary Guide
• Beijing Essentials
• Index
• About Our Writers

Closeups

• Beijing's Subway
• Mao Zedong
• You Can Judge a Pearl By Its Luster
• DVDs in Beijing
• Fringe Art: The Dashanzi 798 Art District
• Top Art Galleries
• 7 Nights in Beijing: The Best in Culture, Cocktails & Clubs
• Legendary Eats in the Xiaoyou Hutong
• Kid-Friendly Hotels in Beijing
• Yesanpo & Beidaihe
• A Swanky Night at the Wall
• Old Dragon's Head
• Tianjin

Maps

• China
• Beijing
• Dongcheng District
• Xicheng District
• Southern Districts: Chongwen & Xuanwu
• Chaoyang District
• Haidian District
• Historical Beijing
• Forbidden City
• Temple of Heaven
• Summer Palace
• Shopping
• Dazhalan/Liulichang
• Beijing Nightlife
• Where to Eat
• Where to Stay
• Side Trips

Beijing in Focus

• Experience Beijing
  • 21st Century China
• Historical Sights
  • The Forbidden City
  • The Age of Empires
• Shopping
  • Markets: A Guide to Buying Silk, Pearls & Pottery
• Arts & Nightlife
  • Beijing Opera
• Where to Eat
  • A Culinary Tour of China
• Best Side Trips
  • The Great Wall

Authors:

Heidi Leigh Johansen, Jennifer Doerr, Emmanuelle Alspaugh

Contributors to the various sections:

Dinah Gardner lives in Beijing. She has written more than a dozen guidebooks on Asia.

Alex Miller, a resident of Beijing, studied at Beijing University.

Katharine Mitchell writes for publications in China and internationally.

Eileen Wen Mooney, resident of Beijing for many years, is the Food & Drink editor of TimeOut.

Paul Mooney, a freelance writer, has lived, worked and studied in Asia for more than 25 years.

Alex Pasternack, an adventurer living in Beijing, writes about the environment, art and architecture for That's Beijing.

Victoria Patience, who grew up in Hong Kong, updated the Beijing Essentials chapter.

 
Return to Travel Index

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More things to see and do in China:

Xian China Terracotta Warriors

Shanghai Travel Guide

China's Southwest

Beyond the Great Wall - Recipes and Travels in the Other China