Beijing & Shanghai: China's Hottest Cities

I always travel with two guides to a place--one to read and the other to tell me where to eat. With "literary excerpts" and topical features on the naming and renaming of Beijing and the "singsong houses" of old Shanghai, this is a book to read before, during, and after a trip to the two cities. Each of the two sections is written by a resident of the city, and each takes a different approach, as these very dissimilar cities demand. Illustrations and maps abound. Listings of hotels, restaurants and shops are limited and likely to be out of date, as the books by this publisher seem to be updated every two or three years.