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Grand China & the Yangtze

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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

Item EXCHN442. Buy these 6 items as a set for $105 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Lonely Planet Discover China

by Lonely Planet

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2011
• PAPER
• 448 PAGES

Focusing on must-see and memorable places and experiences, this all color guide by the discerning editors at Lonely Planet, featuring hundreds of color photographs and maps, includes suggested tours and itineraries along with not-to-be-missed places to stay, eat, shop and see. (CHN674, $27.99)

Three Gorges of the Yangtze River

by Raynor Shaw | Judy Bonavia

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2009
• PAPER
• 248 PAGES

Compact, illustrated and up-to-date, this Odyssey Guide focuses on the most popular 120-mile cruise from Chongqing to Wuhan. (CHN368, $22.95)

Search for Ancient China

by Corinne Debaine-Francfort

• ARCHAEOLOGY
• 1999
• PAPER
• 160 PAGES

With information on everything from jewelry to emperors' tombs, the Great Wall and the dazzling 400-year Han empire, this shirt-pocket survey of discovery features 150 illustrations. (CHN69, $15.95)

Understanding China

by John Bryan Starr

• HISTORY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 400 PAGES

The Yale professor's essential primer on the history, politics and economy of China. A succinct and refreshingly forthright best-selling guide, this third edition brings us right up to date with events in the rapidly evolving nation. (CHN196, $17.95)

Hong Kong

by Jan Morris

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1997
• PAPER
• 384 PAGES
• FAVORITE

A wonderful portrait of Hong Kong by one of our favorite travel writers. Morris enumerates the many personal pleasures of the city, deftly interweaving reportage, history and culture. (HKG02, $17.00)

China Adventure Map

by National Geographic

• 2011
• MAP

A double-sided, full-color map of China, at a useful scale of 1:4,375,000, which shows roads and cities. Printed on tear- and water-reistant paper. (CHN06, $11.95)

 

Also Recommended

Hong Kong Map

by Nelles

• MAP

A detailed, colorful folded map of Hong Kong, scale 1:22,500. (HKG15, $13.95)

Yangzi River Map

by Richard Perry Hayman

• 2003
• MAP

Double-sided, this full-color map guide features photos and 10 maps showing the Yangzi from the Himalayas to the East China Sea. (CHN177, $14.95)

Culture Smart! China

by Kathy Flower

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2010
• PAPER
• 168 PAGES

Take along this handy guide to local customs, etiquette and culture. (CHN434, $9.95)

Eyewitness Guide Beijing and Shanghai

by Eyewitness Guides

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2011
• PAPER
• 240 PAGES

This superb guide features color photography, excellent maps and a neighborhood-by-neighborhood overview of each city. (CHN385, $23.00)

Fodor's Shanghai's 25 Best

by Fodor's

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2010
• PAPER
• 96 PAGES

This shirt-pocket guide, with an excellent map of the city, includes a choice selection of attractions, shops and restaurants, ideal for a short visit. (CHN60, $11.99)

Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook

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

• LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
• 2012
• PAPER
• 256 PAGES

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

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)

Beyond the Great Wall

by Jeffrey Alford | Naomi Duguid

• FOOD
• 2008
• HARD COVER
• 376 PAGES

The globe-trotting duo weave tales of travel with contemporary politics, commentary, carefully documented recipes and stunning photographs for this sumptuous overview of the food and culture of Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Yunnan and other far-off regions of ethnically diverse China. (CHN475, $40.00)

The Chinese Kitchen

by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

• FOOD
• 1999
• HARD COVER
• 452 PAGES

An authoritative compendium of Chinese recipes and food-oriented cultural practices. Eileen Yin-Fei Lo's cookbook doubles as an introduction to China itself. (CHN134, $39.95)

Before the Deluge, The Vanishing World of the Yangtze's Three Gorges

by Deirdre Chetham

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2004
• PAPER
• 306 PAGES

A vivid portrait of the Three Gorges region of the Upper Yangtze River, by the director of the Asia Center at Harvard. Chetham offers a personal, detailed glimpse into the daily life along the river, its spectacular natural beauty and checkered history, including recent efforts to tame it. (CHN132, $26.00)

China Shakes the World

by James Kynge

• HISTORY
• 2007
• PAPER
• 270 PAGES

China Bureau Chief for the Financial Times, Beijing-based Kynge brings experience and perspective to this very readable, enlightening report on the transformation of China today. (CHN353, $14.95)

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, $27.50)

China, Inc. How the Rise of the Next Superpower Changes America and the World

by Ted C. Fishman

• HISTORY
• 2006
• PAPER
• 352 PAGES

An economist and former commodities trader, Ted Fishman draws on statistics, case studies and interviews in this lively economic history and guide to understanding China's spectacular economic growth and future prospects. (CHN305, $17.00)

Life and Death in Shanghai

by Nien Cheng

• HISTORY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 560 PAGES

A plainly told account of the horrors of the Cultural Revolution in Shanghai, from an author who was a six-year political prisoner. (CHN42, $17.95)

Oracle Bones

by Peter Hessler

• HISTORY
• 2007
• PAPER
• 512 PAGES

In this fine portrait of tumult and tradition, Hessler (River Town) finds clues to modern China's realities in the personal stories of peasants, scholars, day laborers and activists. (CHN316, $15.99)

Shanghai, The Rise and Fall of the Decadent City 1842-1949

by Stella Dong

• HISTORY
• 2001
• PAPER
• 318 PAGES

A riveting portrait of "the most pleasure-mad, rapacious, corrupt, strife-ridden, licentious, squalid and decadent city in the world." (CHN128, $15.99)

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, $49.00)

The Forbidden City, Center of Imperial China

by Gilles Beguin | Dominique Morel

• HISTORY
• 1997
• PAPER
• 144 PAGES

This slim volume is packed with maps, archival photographs and illustrations. With a useful chronology and a carefully chosen selection of writings over the ages, it's an indispensable guide to the Forbidden City and the history of Imperial China. (CHN32, $15.95)

The Great Wall, China Against the World, 1000 BC - 2000 AD

by Julia Lovell

• HISTORY
• 2007
• PAPER
• 412 PAGES

The Who, Why and Wherefore of the Great Wall, this marvelous history demolishes myths (no, the wall is not a continuous structure of great antiquity, as much of it was built in the 1600s) with fresh insight and wit. (CHN308, $15.00)

The Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China

by William Lindesay

• HISTORY
• 2008
• PAPER
• 32 PAGES

A beautiful introduction to the extraordinary tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, First Emperor of China, this concise visual overview features richly colored illustrations and photographs accompanied by detailed captions. (CHN126, $12.95)

The Arts of China

by Michael Sullivan

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 352 PAGES

A lively survey of Chinese visual arts and culture through the ages, thoroughly illustrated and accessible. With a new chapter on the 20th century and beyond, this fifth edition covers bronzes, ceramics, painting and architecture from the Neolithic to now. (CHN16, $39.95)

The Great Wall, From Beginning to End

by Michael Yamashita | William Lindesay

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2007
• HARD COVER
• 192 PAGES

Lindesay's informative text accompanies 160 photographs by Yamashita, who spent a year photographing along the 4,000-mile length of the iconic barrier. (CHN451, $29.95)

The River at the Center of the World

by Simon Winchester

• EXPLORATION
• 2004
• PAPER
• 410 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Winchester writes about the character of the Yangtze and the people and places along its banks with easy grace in this absorbing portrait of the great river flowing through the heart of China. (CHN31, $17.00)

China Road

by Rob Gifford

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 368 PAGES

NPR's Gifford writes with warmth and affection of his encounters with truckers, small farmers and regular folk along fabled Route 312 from Shanghai to the border of Kazakhstan. (CHN433, $17.00)

Mao Zedong

by Jonathan Spence

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2006
• PAPER
• 192 PAGES

Yale Sinologist, writer and historian Spence tracks the life of the architect of the People's Republic from his provincial upbringing to his savage three-decade rule. (CHN66, $14.00)

Mr. China, A Memoir

by Tim Clissold

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 2006
• PAPER
• 262 PAGES

An excellent portrait of contemporary China. Clissold writes with humor and insight in this entertaining account of his encounters with the Chinese and the Chinese way of doing business. (CHN306, $14.99)

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)

A Single Pebble

by John Hersey

• LITERATURE
• 1989
• PAPER
• 181 PAGES

A haunting novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winner. Hersey writes, with deceptive simplicity, of an American engineer looking for a dam site on the Yangtze. Think Hemingway on the Yangtze. (CHN03, $15.00)

China, A Traveler's Literary Companion

by Kirk Denton

• ANTHOLOGY
• 2008
• PAPER
• 231 PAGES

An introduction both to China's finest modern writers and its diverse cultures, concerns and landscapes, organized geographically. (CHN520, $14.95)

Death of a Red Heroine

by Xiaolong Qui

• MYSTERY
• 2003
• PAPER
• 464 PAGES

Marvelously evocative of Shanghai and tremendously informative about China's transition towards a market economy in the 1990s, Inspector Chen of the Shanghai Police must find the murderer of a National Model Worker in this award-winning debut. The series continues with A Loyal Character Dancer (CHN412). (CHN374, $15.95)

Empire of the Sun

by J. G. Ballard

• LITERATURE
• 2005
• PAPER
• 279 PAGES

Ballard's widely acclaimed novel of an English boy in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation, drawn from his own experiences. It's a powerful tale of the upheaval and trauma of war. (CHN265, $14.00)

Empress Orchid

by Anchee Min

• LITERATURE
• 2005
• PAPER
• 346 PAGES

In this novel of the glorious, decadent last days of 19th-Century Imperial China, Min (Red Azalea, Becoming Madame Mao) combines her tale of a young girl from the provinces who marries an emperor -- and then improbably becomes the Last Empress -- with a lovingly re-created portrait of life in the Forbidden City. (CHN267, $14.00)

Farewell Shanghai

by Angel Wagenstein

• LITERATURE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 400 PAGES

Wagenstein's novel chronicles the flight of four refugees from Nazi Germany to Shanghai, where they are immersed into both the glamour and devastating poverty of the city. (CHN516, $13.95)

The Good Earth

by Pearl Buck

• LITERATURE
• 1994
• PAPER
• 379 PAGES

The modern classic that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1931. Drawing heavily on Buck's personal experience as a young newlywed in rural China, it is the plainly told story of a poor farmer and his stalwart wife. (CHN15, $16.00)

The Honourable Schoolboy

by John Le Carre

• LITERATURE
• 2011
• PAPER
• 608 PAGES

Le Carre at his best, with British Secret Service agent George Smiley at work among the backstreets of Hong Kong, and across Asia. A riveting cold war spy story that is suffused in Hong Kong atmosphere. (HKG01, $16.00)

The Last Chinese Chef

by Nicole Mones

• LITERATURE
• 2008
• PAPER

Mones' delectable third novel pairs a fast-paced romantic plot with insight into the meaning and preparation of classical Chinese dishes. (CHN498, $13.95)

Waiting

by Ha Jin

• LITERATURE
• 2000
• PAPER
• 308 PAGES

A spare, haunting story of a military doctor who tries for 18 years to divorce his peasant wife so he can marry a more sophisticated nurse at his hospital. Greatly evocative of quotidian life in China during the Cultural Revolution and after. (CHN80, $16.00)

Wild China, The Hidden Wonders of the World's Most Enigmatic Land

by Phil Chapman

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2008
• PAPER
• 224 PAGES

This lavishly illustrated companion book to the BBC series celebrates the diversity of ecosystems, habitats and wildlife of China. (CHN515, $29.95)

A Field Guide to the Birds of China

by John MacKinnon | Karen Phillipps

• FIELD GUIDE
• 2000
• PAPER
• 586 PAGES

A comprehensive field guide to the birds of China, featuring 128 color plates illustrating 1,300 species of birds. Contains introductory chapters on the history of ornithology in China, biogeography, and conservation. (CHN85, $124.00)

Chinese Wildlife

by Martin Walters

• FIELD GUIDE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 208 PAGES

This compact introduction to birds, mammals, reptiles, insects and plants found from the Tibetan plateau to the deserts, tropical forests and mountains includes 200 color photographs. (CHN440, $26.99)

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