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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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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 EXCHN111. Buy these 4 items as a set for $79 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Bradt Guide Yunnan Province

Bradt Guide Yunnan Province

by Martin Walters | Stephen Mansfield

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

A compact guide to geography, cultures and nature of Yunnan, with sketch maps, photographs and practical information. (CHN73, $23.95)

South of the Clouds, Tales from Yunnan

South of the Clouds, Tales from Yunnan

by Lucien Miller

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 342 PAGES

Featuring memorable tales from throughout the Yunnan Province, this book showcases 54 wonderfully insightful and entertaining stories. (CHN45, $32.95)

Essential Tibetan Buddhism

Essential Tibetan Buddhism

by Robert Thurman

  • RELIGION
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 317 PAGES

The foremost Western scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, Thurman has chosen well from that tradition's sacred literature and helpfully includes suggested further reading, explanatory notes and a directory of sacred sites. (TBT15, $14.99)

China South Map

China South Map

by Nelles

  • 2005
  • MAP

A detailed travel map of Southern China, from Taiwan to Hong Kong and the Yunnan Province, at a 1:1,500,000 scale. (CHN27, $13.95)

 
Yangzi River Map

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)

Fodor's Exploring China

Fodor's Exploring China


by Christopher Knowles

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES
  • CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE
    • >

This excellent guidebook, featuring maps and color photos, brings old and new China to life, with sections on places to visit, a useful language guide and practical information. (CHN25, $22.00)

The Chinese Kitchen

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)

A Traveller's History of China

A Traveller's History of China


by Stephen G. Haw

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 310 PAGES

An admirably brief, lively history of China from early origins to today, remarkably clear and necessarily condensed. With a historical gazetteer, chronology and list of dynasties. (CHN43, $14.95)

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)

In Exile from the Land of Snows, The Dalai Lama and Tibet Since the Chinese Occupation

In Exile from the Land of Snows, The Dalai Lama and Tibet Since the Chinese Occupation


by John Avedon

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 391 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

Avedon's masterful, passionate cris de coeur, still the best book on the subject, shows the lives of the Tibetan people at home and in exile since the Chinese takeover in 1950 through the eyes of its leaders, monks and regular people. (TBT04, $16.95)

Perspectives on the Yi of Southwest China


by Stevan Harrell

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 334 PAGES

This is a compendium of scholarly articles about the Yi people. (CHN169, $29.95)

The Age of Wild Ghosts: Memory, Violence, and Place in Southwest China

The Age of Wild Ghosts: Memory, Violence, and Place in Southwest China


by Erik Mueggler

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 361 PAGES

A groundbreaking ethnography of the Yi, 7 million of whom live in China's Yunnan province. It's also an illuminating study of the wages of communism on China's minority peoples. (CHN168, $28.95)

The Search for Modern China

The Search for Modern China


by Jonathan Spence

  • HISTORY
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 992 PAGES

A sweeping history of China including events until 1999, geared fo the general reader. With maps, charts and black-and-white photographs. (CHN98, $59.65)

The Wisdom of the Buddha

The Wisdom of the Buddha


by Jean Boisselier

  • RELIGION
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 191 PAGES

A pocket-size primer of Buddhism, this book is an illustrated history of the sixth-century Indian prince and his quest for enlightenment. With 207 illustrations, 160 in full color. (IDA55, $12.95)

World Religions: Eastern Traditions

World Religions: Eastern Traditions


by Willard G. Oxtoby

  • RELIGION
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 515 PAGES

A clear and insightful introduction to Eastern religions by a team of scholars, covering Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist and East Asian traditions. Scholarly, but still rewarding for the general reader. (ASA07, $79.95)

The Arts of China

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)

Chasing the Panda


by Michael Kiefer

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • HARD COVER
  • 230 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

The spellbinding tale of an unlikely duo and their successful expedition to Wolong in 1936 to recover a panda bear. (CHN166, $24.95)

Red Dust, A Path Through China

Red Dust, A Path Through China


by Ma Jian | Flora Drew

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 324 PAGES

An astounding memoir by an urban poet, painter and writer on the road to Tibet. A vagabond, rebel and Buddhist, Jian abandons his Beijing life for a 3-year southwestern journey through Tibet, Burma and Guizhou Province. (CHN150, $16.00)

River Town, Two Years on the Yangtze

River Town, Two Years on the Yangtze


by Peter Hessler

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

Hessler's compelling, personal story of life as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fuling, where foreigners are a curiosity, explores the culture, traditions and ideas of an isolated world. (CHN125, $14.99)

The Plant Hunters

The Plant Hunters


by Tyler Whittle

  • EXPLORATION
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

Tales of the botanist-explorers who enriched our gardens, including adventures in the Himalayas. (NAT29, $16.95)

The River at the Center of the World

The River at the Center of the World


by Simon Winchester

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 410 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Winchester writes about the character of Yangtze and people and places along its banks with easy grace in this absorbing portrait of the great river flowing through the heart of China. (CHN31, $16.00)

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)

The Explorer's Garden, Rare and Unusual Perennials


by Daniel Hinkley | Roy Lancaster

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 380 PAGES

Remarkable finds in the Himalayas, Yunnan and other exotic locations around the world. (NAT28, $24.95)

Wild China

Wild China


by John MacKinnon | Nigel Hicks

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1996
  • HARD COVER
  • 208 PAGES

A beautiful oversize book of photographs featuring Chinese wildlife and natural history. This informative, up-to-date survey of the wildlife of China also features excellent maps and detailed explanatory text. (CHN19, $39.95)

A Field Guide to the Birds of China

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)

Concise Flowers of the Himalaya

Concise Flowers of the Himalaya


by Oleg Polunin | Adam Stainton

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 424 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

A condensed version of the classic Flowers of the Himalayas featuring the same 700 color photographs and 315 line drawings but with shorter descriptive information. (HML17, $25.00)

Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas

Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas


by Bikram Grewal

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 144 PAGES

A pocket guide to 250 birds found from the foothills up to high elevations ranging from the Hindu Kush and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalayas. With brief descriptive information, maps and 260 full-color illustrations. (HML31, $15.95)

More Recommendations

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

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.