Insider's Guide to Beijing 2008

We took this with us for a 9 day trip to Beijing and it had more information, and more information that no one else publishes, than all the other guidebooks put together. The sassy essays scattered throughout are fun as well as informative, and the listings are amazingly complete and with the kind of details you want when you are figuring out how to choose from among similar sounding shops or restaurants or galleries. It is too involved to be your only guidebook, you'll want something less intense to give you more of an overview of Beijing, but it is perfect for drilling down into something that intrigues you.

How else are you going to tell the cabbie that you want to go to the Kerry Center Hotel? I speak Mandarin, but didn't know the Chinese names, not to mention the Chinese addresses to the restaurants, bars, and touristy things that I wanted to get to! Unless you have an iPhone (and can use the hoodhot Beijing taxi guide app), this is essential for navigating Beijing!

I've been living in Beijing for almost ten years. My wife and I live by this book, and our visitors from abroad use this as their comprehensive reference for their Beijing visits as well. Great book for expats and tourists alike!

This book navigated us through the city for two weeks, spot on. We saw the historic sights and emerging China, a lot of if from a local angle. And the restaurants! Great book.

Finally got my copy from the friendly Friendship Store on Changan Jie. My wife (a Beijinger) and I own a real estate service for expatriates in Beijing and always have a copy on hand, as do all our consultants, Chinese and foreign. The depth and accuracy of information is impressive. Unlike many guides, little or none of the content is re-hashed from previous years. Both entertaining and informative, it's an essential reference for native Beijingers, expatriates and students alike. Tourists wanting an insight into contemporary Beijing might consider it too as it's filled with anecdotes. However, sparse coverage of historical aspects of the city.