Archive-name: travel/china-guide/part3
Posting-Frequency: monthly

                                  CHINA

                         The Internet Travel Guide

                              Peter M. Geiser


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Contents
 
 Introduction
 Copyright (c) 1995, 1996

 1. General Overview
 1.1 Geographical Information
 1.2 Climate
 1.3 People
 1.4 History
 1.5 Visa
 1.6 Embassies
 1.7 Border Crossing
 1.8 Money
 1.9 Mail
 1.10 Telephone
 1.11 Accommodation
 1.12 Food
 1.13 Health
 1.14 Student Card

 2. Transportation
 2.1 Flying
 2.2 Train
 2.3 Boat
 2.4 Bus
 2.5 Bicycle

 3. Places
     Beijing
     Chang Cheng (Great Wall)
     Chang Jiang (Yangtse)
     Chengdu
     Chongqing
     Dali
     Emei Shan
     Guangzhou (Canton)
     Guilin
     Hangzhou
     Hekou
     Jiuzhaigou
     Kashgar
     Khotan
     Kunming
     Lijiang
     Luoyang
     Nanjing
     Shanghai
     Shaolin Monastery
     Shenzhen
     Suzhou
     Urumqi
     Wuhan
     Xian
     Yangshuo

 4. Literature
 4.1 Guidebooks
 4.2 Travellers Tales
 4.3 Language
 4.4 Historical/Political
 4.5 (Auto) Biography
 4.6 Chinese Classics
 4.7 Novels
 4.8 Movies
 4.9 Internet

 A. Contributors

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The Internet Travel Guide
http://www-students.unisg.ch/~pgeiser/itg.htm
Copyright (c) 1995, 1996 Peter M. Geiser
Peter.Geiser@student.unisg.ch

Last change 2. October 1996.
Updates: FAQ: monthly, HTML: more often

Currently available in the series of the Internet Travel Guides:
Cambodia
China
Laos
Myanmar (Burma)
Sumatra
Switzerland
Tibet
Vietnam

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INTRODUCTION

The main objective of this FAQ is to provide the reader with the newest
travel information available, like what is the current situation on visa,
where to stay and what prices are reasonable, etc. It is not a guide to
the Chinese culture or history (although I started to include some
information about those subjects as well), for these non-changing facts
are much more pleasantly presented in many good books (see the list in
section 4 in this FAQ). It is also not intended to be a political pamphlet
since politics is often a very opinionated subject. However, I started to
include some political facts where I felt it was appropriate.

Remember: Things change very fast, so by the time you get to China the
information in this FAQ may be outdated. If you encounter this, please
bear with me. Instead of being upset, rather share your experiences with
other people on the net. The next tourist will thank you if he or she can
rely on your new information. Also, if you find time during your travels
to write a postcard or a letter to me, I would greatly appreciate it.

Some paragraphs are led by the name of the author in brackets. This
doesn't mean that these are their only contributions, but rather that in
that case I chose to leave the words as the author wrote them, adding a
more personal note to the FAQ.


Answering questions

There are many people who send mail to ask me some questions. As much as
I like to answer as many questions as possible, my time is limited. I do
this work in my spare time, so I frequently answer the questions only
after a couple of days (or even weeks if I'm away for a while.) It also
happens that I cannot return an e-mail due to an invalid e-mail address.
Please be careful to include a valid e-mail address, or then ask me to
post the answer in rec.travel.asia.

This guide lives by being up-to-date. Since I cannot travel all the time,
I am glad to receive suggestions, contributions and comments. Any addition
is useful, regardless of the size.

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE

In accordance with the Bern convention, this document is copyrighted
worldwide. The information provided within this document is the property
of the original authors. The author especially reserves the right to the
exclusive use of the term "The Internet Travel Guide".

This document or parts thereof may NOT be sold for profit or included in
any commercial documents (e. g. books, esp. guide books, magazines,
CD-ROMs, WWW-pages, the Microsoft Network or any other form) without the
prior written permission of the copyright holder. This permission is valid
exactly for the agreed version (or if no version was stated at the
published version on the date of the agreement) at the time the permission
was granted; it does not cover future or any other versions. However,
following the common practice of the Internet, this document may be freely
redistributed without any modification whatsoever, including this
copyright notice.

If you as the reader has paid to get this document, please let me know. As
much as I would like I cannot give you back your money, but I can try to
put an end to the illegal stealing of other people's work.

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The Internet Travel Guide
Copyright (c) 1995, 1996
http://www-students.unisg.ch/~pgeiser/itg.htm

Peter M. Geiser
Seeblickstr. 10
9010 St.Gallen
Switzerland

Peter.Geiser@student.unisg.ch

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4. LITERATURE

This section presents a very small extract of the literature about and
from and about China. It is by no means complete, nor does it necessarily
present the best books available. Most of the books listed here are
included simply because I happen to own them and am able to comment on
them.

4.1 GUIDEBOOKS

Lonely Planet. China - A Travel Survival Kit. Robert Storey, Chris Taylor,
Clem Lindenmayer. March 1994. 4th Ed. ISBN 0-86442-207-5. 1064 p, 202 maps
Contains many good hints about travelling. Has good lists of hotels,
restaurants, etc. It is considered to be the 'Bible' of independent
travel in China. A new edition is planned for this summer.

Chan, Charis. Imperial China. Architectural Guides for Travellers.
This book concentrates on the northern part of China. It seems to have
excellent descriptions and explanations of all the sites.

Collins Illustrated Guide to All China, Charis Chan (Collins 1988).
Many nice pictures, good reading for an accompanied tour or at home.

China. Geo Special. October 1987 (German).
Contains many beautiful pictures and interesting articles on various
topics.


CITY GUIDES AND SPECIAL SIGHTS

Chengdu Guidebook. 92 p., Sichuan People's Publishing House.
For only a couple of yuans, you get an excellent guidebook on Chengdu.
Apart from some pictures and a good coverage of the sites, is also
contains many ideas for off-the-beaten-track tours and useful addresses.
It is in English, but has been written and published in China.

Beijing. Robert Storey. Lonely Planet. ISBN 0-86442-206-7. 292 p, 24 maps

The Great Wall. Cultural Relics Publishing House. 118 p. 1988.
ISBN 7-5010-0140-5
A souvenir album about the Great Wall, with many pictures and a good
historical account both in Chinese and English.

Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Emperor Qin Shi Hunag. Hong Kong Man Hai
Language Publication. 1987. ISBN 962-297-0098.
A souvenir album of the terracotta army with many pictures and a lot of
historical and archeological details.

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4.2 TRAVELLERS TALES

Grigsby, Roger. China by Bike. Mountaineers: Books, Seatle.

Theroux, Paul. Riding the Iron Rooster. Starting in Europe, the author
includes his experiences on the Transsibirian Railroad as well as the
subsequent months travelling by train throughout China.

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4.3 LANGUAGE

LANGUAGE COURSES

Practical Chinese Reader. Commercial Press, Beijing. 1981, 6th Ed 1989.
An excellent book series consisting of at least 6 volumes. There are also
the Chinese Character Exercise Books.

Chinesisch. Kessler Verlag. 1988.
A German translation of the Practical Chinese Reader. This version is used
at the University of Zurich.


PHRASEBOOKS

Cantonese. Kam Lau. Lonely Planet, 2nd Ed. Oct 1995. ISBN 0-86442-340-3.
224 p.

Mandarin (Chinese). Chris Taylor. Lonely Planet, 2nd Ed. ISBN
0-86442-086-2. 184 p.


DICTIONARIES

Concise English-Chinese, Chinese-English Dictionary. Oxford University
Press 1980. The Commercial Press. ISBN 7-100-00589-2
This small dictionary has still 600 pages. Since the paper is very thin it
is the ideal companion for your travels. Buy this book in China; it should
cost about CNY 20.

Das neue Chinesisch-Deutsche Woerterbuch. 1985.
The large, 1162 pages thick book costs an incredible low CNY 14.20 and is
probably the most comprehensive dictionary available.

Deutsch-Chinesisches Taschenwoerterbuch. 1986.
Published in China, this pocket book costs only CNY 1.15. It has only 240
pages and is good for carrying around.

Das kleine deutsch-chinesische Neologismenwoerterbuch. ISBN 7-5600-0210-2.
190 p. CNY 1.50.
This extremely small dictionary contains mostly new words with Western
origin, like Eurovisionssendung, or Wehrdienstverweigerung, etc. It is
also German.

Fun with Chinese Characters 1, 2, 3. The Straits Times Collection. Federal
Publications. Singapore. 1980, 1982, 1983. ISBN 981-01-3004-X, ISBN
981-01-3005-8, and ISBN 981-01-3006-6.
The tree volumes with together about 480 pages presents the origin of the
Chinese characters in many humorous cartoons and descriptions. Excellent
for students.

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4.4 HISTORICAL/POLITICAL

Die Krallen der Tiger und Drachen. Wirtschaftsboom und Selbstbewusstsein
in Asien. Sabine Stahl/Ulrich Mihr (Hrsg.). Droemer Verlag 1995.
An excellent book about the current political and economical developments
in Asia.

The People's Republic of China. Reflections on Chinese Political History
since 1949. Witold Rodzinski. William Collins 1988.

China - Ein politisches Reisebuch. Karl Grobe-Hagel. (German) VSA-Verlag
1987.

China's Warriors Rise From the Earth O. Louis Mazzatenta.
in The Magazine of the National Geographic Society, October 1996,
p.68 - 85.

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4.5 (AUTO) BIOGRAPHIES

Cheng, Nieh.  Live and death in Shanghai.
A former director with a big American company, she had to serve several
years in prison during the cultural revolution. A gripping account of the
time.

Jung, Chang.  Wild Swans - Three Daughters of China.
The story of Chinese family from the beginning of the 20th century until
1978. An excellent book that explains a lot of China's 20th century
history.

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4.6 CHINESE CLASSICS

I Ging.
More than four thousand years old, the 'Book of Changes' still is in wide
use. It is used as a source of wisdom as well as to predict the future.
The best translations into Western languages are based on the translation
by the German Richard Wilhelm, who, at the beginning of the 20th century
used nearly ten years of his life to translate it into German.

Sun Tse. The Art of War.
The classic account on how to conduct war. Mao studied it extensively and
used many of the described tactics and strategies to succeed in the Chinese
revolution.

Sun Bin. The Art of War.
A descendant of Sun Tse, Sun Bin published his own set of rules about the
Art of War. This version was not known until 1972.

Wang, Shicheng. Djin Ping Meh.
About 400 years old, it describes the life of a rich Chinese with his six
wives and his many friends.

Wu, Chengen. Journey to the West. Foreign Language Press, Beijing
Based on many centuries of traditional mythology, this classical book was
put into its present form in the 1570s. It tells the story of the good
monk Sanzang who went to the West to fetch the Holy Scriptures.
Accompanied by his three disciples, the Monkey King, Brother Pig and Friar
Sand, he has to survive many adventures.

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4.7 NOVELS

Buck, Pearl S. Although born in the USA, Pearl S. Buck grew up in China.
She went to college in Nanjing and felt more Chinese than American. She
has written many books about China.
 - Imperial Woman. 1956

Ding, Ya.  Les Heritiers des Sept Royaumes. Editions Stock, Paris, 1988.
           Die Erben der Sieben Reiche. Benziger, Zurich. 1990.
A history of the beginning of the democratic movement in Beijing at the
end of the 80s.

Larsen, Jeanne. Silk Road. 1989. ISBN 0-7493-0524-X.
A delightful story of a young girl's search for her mother, set during the
Tang dynasty. Many Chinese legends and mythologies are artfully woven into
the tale.

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4.8 MOVIES

During the last decade, Chinas movie industry has become increasingly well
known all over the world. One of the main reasons for that was the work of
the actor/director duo of Gong Li and Zhang Yimou. Their movies are:
Hong Gaoliang (Red Sorghum, Das rote Kornfeld), 1988
Ju Dou, 1990
Raise the Red Lantern, 1991
The Story of Qiu Ju, 1992
The Haunted Soul of a Woman Artist, 1993
Lifetimes, 1994
Shanghai Triad, 1994

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4.9 INTERNET

The newest version of this guide is available on WWW at
http://www-students.unisg.ch/~pgeiser/china/
The archive for this guide is at
rtfm.mit.edu in /pub/usenet/news.answers/travel/china-guide/

The FAQ of soc.culture.china can be found on WWW at
http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~tcyang/html/China_faq.html

The University of Texas at Austin has a lot of information at
http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/countries/china

A new, and quite impressive site on budget travel in China has been done
by Mark Ignativ. It's at
http://minyos.xx.rmit.edu.au/~tbmlc/btchina/index.htm

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A. CONTRIBUTORS

I have been able to include a lot of information from other people and
sources. Where it is necessary to do so, I put the author in front of the
paragraph, mostly so when personal experiences/feelings are important.
Whenever possible I tried to contact the author of the information to get
permission and I include his/her e-mail address for reference.

Jin Ye           Ye01@utsw.swmed.edu
Wuchun Wu        wuwu@phys.ksu.edu
Edmund J. Murphy 102131.1441@compuserve.com

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The homepage of the Internet Travel Guides is at
http://www-students.unisg.ch/~pgeiser/itg.htm

Please send your comments, suggestions and contributions to the address
below. For questions, please see my note in the introduction.

e-mail:peter.geiser@student.unisg.ch

Peter M. Geiser
Seeblickstr. 10
9010 St. Gallen
Switzerland

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