When planning a trip through greater China, it's often difficult to know where to even begin to get your travel information. What should you see? Where can you stay? What kind of food do they have there? And, the all important, how do you get there? While Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong each have dozens of beautifully illustrated guidebooks, pamphlets and maps showing tourists the ins and outs of the city from a variety of different publishers and couched to all budgets and lifestyles, the bulk of mainland China is still a tough trip to plan for first-time travellers.

In the last few years people in North America and Europe have been able to use their iPhones or Android phones as virtual guides—there are apps for finding specific sights or restaurants, for giving turn-by-turn walking directions through a city, and for helping you book hotels painlessly. China's trio of world cities—Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong—are already app-happy, and more and more apps are being developed in China, but there's a long way to go before English-language applications for travel in China get to be as extensive as in the West. If you want to really see the country, you're probably going to need a traditional guidebook, heavy though it may be. 

Luckily for travellers, this year saw quite a few new editions of guidebooks published about China. When comparing them, the first thing to consider is your budget. Budget travellers usually gravitate towards Lonely Planet and Rough Guides, while guidebooks like Fodor's and Frommer's usually aim for more well-heeled travellers, and people of flexible budget will check out more than one brand of book to compare them. This is important not for the price of the book itself, but for the price brackets of hotels, restaurants and shopping experiences described within its pages.

The second thing to consider is how important images are to your travels. Many of the shorter guidebooks sacrifice step-by-step walking directions or do-it-yourself tips for glossy photographs of the places you might go visit. Depending on the type of traveller you are – do you hire a guide, a driver from the hotel? Do you insist on walking everywhere with your heavily laden backpack? – one of these guidebooks might be more suitable for you than another. Some travellers need photos as visual inspiration for their journey and just let the nuts and bolts of how to get there work itself out on the road.

In no particular order, the travel guides about China that are most easily found worldwide are:

1) Lonely Planet

Last published spring 2011. While much abused in online discussions, this seems to be the grudging favourite of China travellers. This whopping 1048-page book isn't sold in China, so you'd best buy one before you get here. It's been redesigned for ease of use and readability, though this has meant less Chinese characters sprinkled throughout the book. It has 198 maps, though complaints persist about the accuracy of directions. If you're an e-reader addict, then you can opt to order the book to your device, or even select individual chapters to purchase. www.lonelyplanet.com

Pros: Covers a large area of China. 
Cons: Might not cover enough updated material if you're really serious about getting out to rural places.

2) Rough Guides

The newest edition was published summer 2011, and at 1140 pages is one of the longest guidebooks available for China. Rough Guides, published by Pearson, has a dedicated following, and loyal users may turn their noses up at Lonely Planet guides in other countries, but for China one problem that sets Rough Guides back is the Lonely Planet's more convenient use of Chinese characters throughout the book. The e-book version is also available.  www.roughguides.com.

Pros: Covers a large area of China. 
Cons: Mandarin translations of places (shops, businesses, hotels) not so easy to find or use.

3) Frommer's

Reviewers like their descriptions of food and ways to get around, but some non-Americans complain that it seems slanted to the middle-class American market, and younger people may complain that it's meant for a more mature audience. The necessity to flip back and forth through the book to find Chinese characters for different businesses and attractions has also received criticism. Their 896-page 4th Edition book was published in 2010 and is available for purchase and download; their 5th edition is slated to publish in March 2012. http://www.frommers.com

Pros: Gives good descriptions, prioritizes places for short-time travellers.
Cons: Some reviewers found it condescending or slanted to the US middle-class world view.

4) China (Eyewitness Travel Guides) 

Published by Pearson, the same people who produce Rough Guides, DK Eyewitness is the world's bestselling overall line of guidebook. The most recent 672-page China guide was published in March 2010 and another edition will come out next year. Reviewers like their good, colourful maps. The publisher's motto is “the guides that show you what others only tell you.” These are attractive also as coffee table conversation pieces on your return home. Visual people, armchair travellers or people travelling with children may also enjoy these books. Downsides are the lack of in-depth information and quantity of Chinese translations. http://us.dk.com

Pros: Great visual inspiration, maps. 
Cons: Practical information often lacking.

5) Fodor's China

Published in June 2011, this updated 800-page guidebook has 92 maps and 328 colour photos. Short-time travellers may find their lists of top experiences helpful in prioritizing their itineraries. Some reviewers have complained about the layout of these books, and the sparseness of business names written in Chinese characters.  http://www.fodors.com

Pros: Maps and photos give visual people inspiration, gives tips on prioritizing travel.  
Cons: Layout, ease of use.

6) China Insight Guide

The latest edition was published in spring 2011 and has 480 pages including 250 photographs. This series is perhaps better known for their city guides, for example Insight City Guide: Shanghai (Published Oct. 2011, 336 pages). Insight also has a Southern China guide, but it was last published in 2007. They call themselves a “visual” travel guide and focus more on pictures, maps and letting you visualize your experience. www.insightguides.com

Pros: Good visual information, lots of tips on the big cities. 
Cons: Lack of information for those wanting to go off-the-beaten-path.
 

Related links
China Travel Necessities: Seven Forget-Me-Nots for China
Rocket in Your Pocket: iPhone Apps for China Travel, Mandarin and More
Southern Exposure – Six Sunshine Getaways this Winter

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