Reviews

Book

Getting Around in China

Anyone planning to visit China for the first time either as a tourist - to start a new job or even to find themselves - won't have a problem finding a comprehensive guidebook that covers everything from trains to the terracotta warriors. So, why does the world need another travel book, this one by an engineer, who happens to be fond of China?

Fred Richardson's Getting Around in China, published by the Foreign Languages Press in Beijing, isn't quite a guidebook. In fact, the writer specifically warns his readers they won't find recommendations about hotels, restaurants or tourist attractions in his book, and he keeps this promise. After first visiting China in 1988, Richardson says that he returned numerous times and made plenty of friends meandering across the country. He demonstrates a sense of adventure by wandering off in whatever direction he feels like and writes about his encounters with people on trains, budget hotels and on the streets of small towns across China.

As a frugal traveler who likes outdoor food stalls, sleeps in cheap out-of-the-way hotels and takes his bicycle on train rides, he may have something to share with readers looking to explore the vast country without the company of other foreigners, even perhaps at the expense of missing some important attractions.

"Why do I do this, work so hard and put myself to so much trouble I often wonder?" Richardson asks near the end of the book. "I guess it's the adventure, not knowing what is around the corner. And the small contacts I make are fun for both me and the locals. They think I am pretty funny and a little crazy. Maybe they are right."

Despite its shortcomings as a travel book, Getting Around in China offers anecdote after anecdote that might prove useful to those with some China experience. Those who have never stepped foot in China may learn a few things about what to expect "off the beaten track" from a layman's perspective but may wish for some more background to fully understand the point. But those traveling to China for a short period, such a week or two, may not have the time or desire to seek out the budget hotels with only Chinese speaking staff and sidewalk noodle shops.

But students, explorers at heart and those looking to avoid annoying foreign tourists may appreciate the casual stories in this book if they plan to spend at least a month traveling the country on a limited budget.

The book is filled with diary-style entries about his personal experiences going back to the 1980s.

His readers would have benefited from tighter editing and better organization. The writing seems a bit too wordy and random. For example, he repeats his preference for hard sleepers over soft sleepers in trains several times before he explains the difference. He shuns soft sleepers as expensive and just for the "rich" but that is far from true. Bryan Virasami

New yearbook on shelves

An expanded edition of China Journalism Yearbook for 2007 has been completed by the editorial office of the News and Transmission Institute, under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and was published in China in September.

China Journalism Yearbook reflects the major achievements during 2006 in the various sectors and professions of China's media industry. The yearbook provides an authentic record of all the important events and activities that occurred in 2006. The yearbook is a window through which to learn about the development of China's media.

The yearbook, including more than 200 news photos that vividly record key moments of important meetings, major news reports and other events in China.

In the "organization" volume of the yearbook, there is a list of local news agencies, a network media list provided by the State Council Information Office, a professional journals list, and, for the first time, a comprehensive list of news management authorities, news transmission agencies and news associations in China, including those in the mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

The yearbook is available in bookstores.

Wang Jian

(China Daily 10/16/2007 page20)