China

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Kids

Books for

Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXCHN80. Buy these 4 items as a set for $72 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

ADD SET
TO BOOKBAG
Odyssey Guide Xi'an, Shaanxi & the Terracotta Army

Odyssey Guide Xi'an, Shaanxi & the Terracotta Army

by Kevin Bishop

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

With color photographs, insightful essays on culture and history, site plans and places of interest in and around China's ancient capital. (CHN34, $24.95)

Understanding China

Understanding China

by John Bryan Starr

  • HISTORY
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES

The Yale professor brings us up to date in this third edition of his succinct and refreshingly forthright best-selling guide to China's economy, history and politics. (CHN196, $17.95)

Wild Swans, Three Daughters of China

Wild Swans, Three Daughters of China

by Jung Chang

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 524 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

In this riveting tale of three generations spanning the end of Old China, Mao's regime and the Japanese occupation, Chang chronicles the enormous changes in China since 1929. (CHN04, $16.99)

China Wakes, The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power

China Wakes, The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power

by Nicholas Kristoff | Sheryl WuDunn

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 501 PAGES

The authors journeyed from Tibet to Tiananmen, reporting in depth on contemporary China and its cultural dissidents. An engrossing portrait of a nation struggling to hold onto tradition while modernizing its economy. (CHN33, $16.95)

 
Chinese (Mandarin), Start Speaking Today!

Chinese (Mandarin), Start Speaking Today!


by Educational Services Corporation

  • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
  • 1993
  • AUDIO CD

A 90-minute crash course in Mandarin featured in two compact discs and a phrasebook packaged in a vinyl sleeve. Geared for travelers, the course follows the foreign service method -- which focuses on dialogues and useful sentences instead of individual words. (CHN92, $24.95)

Lonely Planet China

Lonely Planet China


by Lonely Planet

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 1048 PAGES

An excellent practical guide to China, geared for independent travelers. (CHN39, $31.99)

Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook

Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook


by Hua-Yuan L. Mowry | Justin Ben-Adam Rudelson

  • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

A handy phrasebook for basic Mandarin, focusing on pronunciation, grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler. (CHN72, $8.99)

Survival Kit for Overseas Living

Survival Kit for Overseas Living


by L. Robert Kohls

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 165 PAGES

With chapters on cultural baggage, stereotypes and common complaints of American expats, this intercultural classic is perfect for study abroad. (GEN137, $19.95)

Between Mecca and Beijing, Modernization and Consumption Among Urban Chinese Muslims


by Maris Boyd Gillette

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 296 PAGES

An academic study of the minority Muslim population of Xi'an. (CHN180, $24.95)

Buddhism in China: A Historical Survey

Buddhism in China: A Historical Survey


by Kenneth Ch'en

  • RELIGION
  • 1972
  • PAPER
  • 560 PAGES

A well organized, scholarly history of the development of Mahayana Buddhism in China, originally published in 1964. (CHN151, $57.50)

China, A New History

China, A New History


by John Fairbank | Merle Goldman

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 546 PAGES

A sweeping history of China from the Paleolithic to Tiananmen, revised with a new chapter by Merle Goldman. A standard for history buffs. (CHN11, $26.50)

Foreign Devils on the Silk Road

Foreign Devils on the Silk Road


by Peter Hopkirk

  • HISTORY
  • 1984
  • PAPER
  • 252 PAGES

Hopkirk's rousing tale of Sven Hedin and other larger-than-life archaeological raiders of the early 20th century captures the excitement of discovery -- and the glories of the Silk Road. (CAS22, $24.95)

Religions of China in Practice

Religions of China in Practice


by Donald S. Lopez Jr.

  • RELIGION
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 472 PAGES

Confucionism, Daoism and Buddhism, and how they overlap and interact with each other. (CHN127, $42.00)

Religions of China, The World as a Living System


by David L. Overmyer

  • RELIGION
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 125 PAGES

A brief primer on the religions of China. (CHN154, $11.50)

Religions of the Silk Road

Religions of the Silk Road


by Richard C. Foltz

  • RELIGION
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 186 PAGES

A scholarly survey of cultural traditions, and especially religions, along the trade routes through China and Central Asia from antiquity to the 15th century. (CAS52, $26.00)

The Art of Crossing Cultures

The Art of Crossing Cultures


by Craig Storti

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 153 PAGES

Tips for travelers adjusting to a new culture. (GEN136, $24.95)

The Cambridge Illustrated History of China

The Cambridge Illustrated History of China


by Patricia Buckley Ebrey

  • HISTORY
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

A concise, handsomely illustrated survey of Chinese history. Organized chronologically, this book marches confidently through 8,000 years of Chinese civilization, balancing social issues with politics and culture. (CHN79, $46.99)

The Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China

The Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China


by William Lindesay

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 32 PAGES

Lindesay augments colorful illustrations and photographs with detailed captions in this concise visual overview of the extraordinary tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, First Emperor of China. (CHN126, $12.95)

Along the Silk Road

Along the Silk Road


by Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 144 PAGES

A nicely illustrated collection of essays on the art, culture and music of the Silk Road with contributions by art historian ten Grotenhuis (who edited the volume), Yo-Yo Ma and others associated with the Silk Road Project. (CAS78, $24.95)

Life Along the Silk Road

Life Along the Silk Road


by Susan Whitfield

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 253 PAGES

With insight, scholarship and dramatic flair, Susan Whitfield recounts the lives of ten diverse individuals on the ancient Silk Road, including four tales set in Dunhuang. With a superb 15-page history of Central Asia. (CAS44, $24.95)

Red China Blues, My Long March from Mao to Now

Red China Blues, My Long March from Mao to Now


by Jan Wong

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

Jan Wong tells of her experiences in the "hermetically sealed bubble of Maoism" as one of two westerners to attend Beijing University, then offers a first-hand account of recent reforms in China. (CHN37, $15.95)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest