Frommer's China: The 50 Most Memorable Trips

Last Updated: September 9, 1998

J.D. Brown, China: The 50 Most Memorable Trips, Macmillan Travel, 1998. ISBN 0-02-861636-7

Summary

This was my favorite guide book. It discusses 50 trips taken by the author, told in a narrative fashion. The book is interesting to read on its own (it reads like a sequence of short stories).

Brown also gives his personal recommendations. Eventually I figured out he longs for the China of 20 years ago, without all the tourists, before many parts became modernized, but with all the amenities that modernization have provided. As a result, some of his recommendations won't match what you're interested in, but it's easy to spot when he's doing this and adjust his recommendation as appropriate.

But...

Of the five travel books I looked at, this book has the sparest coverage of China, and it has a rather minimal selection of hotels (and few are for the budget conscious). It's probably best as a companion book to another travel guide.

China Index