Rating: 
Summary: If you're traveling to China, you need this book
Review: The publisher, Lonely Planet, calls this book a "travel survival kit", and they're exactly right. It includes a wealth of useful information, including a brief history of China, a short Mandarin phrase book, advice on things to pack and places to see, a quick course on Chinese culture, and lots of great information (including maps, of course) for practically any place you might visit. I used this book constantly during my trip, and would have been lost (literally and figuratively) without it. It seemed to be standard issue for the travelers I encountered. Even some of the locals were impressed with "inside" information I found in it, such as the restaurant and nightclub recommendations. I also found the information provided about the historical sites I visited was generally far superior to any English-language descriptions I could find there.
In short, don't go to China without it.
Rating:
Summary: THE SWISS ARMY KNIFE OF GUIDEBOOKS!!!
Review: the reviewer from ottowa, ontario canada was way off. this book is the swiss army knife of practical knowledge concerning how to survive, get around, and even have a great time in the massively complex and ever-changing world that is china. granted, the book has a cheeky, irreverant air to it, but believe me when i say this humor came as a great psychological boost at times. i know, i travelled extensively in china for 1 year and also lived in shanghai. i went there speaking no chinese at all and managed to learn to speak passably well by the time i had to leave. let's be realistic; it is impossible to fit all of china into 1 book. shanghai alone could fill a book this size, but what lonely planet sacrifices in up-to-the-minute nightlife coverage in major cities (this purpose is served far better by english city mags) and historical information (not to mention pretty pictures) it more than makes up for with it's sheer volume of practical information from all over china. how to get to, tour, eat, sleep, and even attempt to get off the beaten track (becoming really hard in china) at any location in this massive country. i sincerely believe it would take a lifetime for a single individual to compile this much information. this book isn't perfect, some info is out-of-date, but if you're going to china, it is indispensible.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for package tourists; not for exploration
Review: They say that everything you hear about China is true somewhere. Everything you read in LP China may also be true somewhere but unfortunately not always where you are. Originally published in August 2002 this book is well past its prime. It is still superior to the Rough Guide but could use a serious update. Speaking of which the overleaf promises guidebook upgrades on the Internet but they discontinued this in favour of user discussion. Pricing - the cost of tea in China, you say? Like most things in China, prices are in constant flux and I question the value of including them. They are more misleading than helpful. Tourist attractions will generally be higher than what the book says but other prices will be close. Locations - I live in the city of Wuhan and in the last two year it has undergone tremendous changes. There is simply no way for a printed book to keep up with them. For example, in the last six months the bus routes in WuChang have changed four times. If you are going to travel around China be flexible! Expect that nothing in the guidebook will be where you expected. Expect to bargain for everything, hotel prices included. Remember that any guide book is only a starting place. As I have travelled around southern China I have used this book as a starting point and then asked the locals what they would do. Most have never been to the "tourist sites" but can show you a great street restaurant just around the corner. This book is great for those thinking of going to China but who will never make the trip, or for those who are going on a package trip to fourteen cities in eight days. For those who want to explore China on their own I would advise caution.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you ever needed in a travel book
Review: This book is a must-have, must-buy if you are planning a trip to China. If you don't speak Chinese, the book is terrific. It contains all of the commonly used phrases for every situation that you could possibly encounter in China. In addition, it has extraordinarily detailed directions on how to travel within the country. Almost every tourist you will meet has a Lonely Planet in hand. It is true that there are no equivalents of this book within China and the people that I have met there think that the book is very thorough. In general, most people in China do not get to travel a great deal so there are not a lot of travel books in China. I would recommend all Lonely Planet books for travel throughout Asia.
Rating:
Summary: Inaccurate, sloppy, semi-literate, overrated
Review: This book is only touted as 'the' book to have by those who have looked at no others, and have spent little time in China. Inconsistent in its presentation (opening times and prices may be included or may be just forgotten), often ill-informed and unhelpful in its descriptions of sites, only partially and superficially updated from the previous edition, this book not only fails to bring China to life, but also fails to do what LP is supposed to be good at, and tell you the cheapest ways to do things and the cheapest places to stay. Lazy updating has failed to find many newer, cheaper, and better value for money hotels and restaurants, and transportation information is too sketchy to be of much use. Not a few of us have already left our copies in the trash in China. Those wanting a single volume budget guide would be much better off buying Rough Guide, even though it's older, and those wanting some genuinely helpful and informed cultural information should buy Blue Guide (both available on this site).
Rating: 
Summary: Complete Crap
Review: This book is so bad. If I could give it 0 stars believe me, I would. Many of the things listed in this book no longer exist. I went to one city and all 4 places listed in the LP as budget accomodations were no longer in business. Maps were incorrect. Attractions were listed with one address and placed elsewhere (and incorrectly) on the map. It would help greatly of it had more Chinese of the locations listed so you can show cab drivers. I finally gave up, chucked it into the trash and continued my 4 month trip through Asia without consulting any guidebook and had a much nicer time. Down with the Lonely Liar! You don't need a guide book. Just talk to other travelers.
Rating:
Summary: Best overall book for travelling to China.
Review: This book is very detailed and pays a great deal of attention to the interesting parts of China within the major cities and in areas more remote.
Rating:
Summary: A very hard and very well-managed and great endeavour
Review: This edition of "Lonely Planet China" is excellent. It is better than the previous one, which was very good itself but had some weaknesses. Despite the immensity of China and the numberless topics and regions that have to be covered herein, the authors have done an excellent job indeed. Most of LP's masterpieces are guidebooks to much smaller countries or regions (it is indeed inevitable for travel guidebooks to be the better, in overall terms, the smaller the region they cover). But this one is an exception: despite its hugeness, China has been covered with superb maestry by people who do know about it. Having said this, we cannot diminish the importance of LP's guidebooks to Beijing and Shanghai - if you are planning to spend much time in those cities, it may be a good idea to get those guidebooks also, since this huge and heavy book cannot cover as much of those cities as the authors thsemselves would obviously love to. The same obviously applies for Hong Kong and Macau, Taiwan, and Tibet, all of which have generated their own LP guidebooks. Xinjiang is instead wonderfully covered in "LP Central Asia". This is not to persuade you to get more and more guidebooks, but China is indeed an immense place and one book can hardly be enough to cover it all in depth. In this book itself, its excellent coverage of some regions is stronger than others: it is better on the Coastal towns than it is on the deep interior of China, which reflects indeed the number of tourists who go to these places. Having said this, this book does nevertheless contain most of what a visitor will need or want to know about big China. And in a place that is chaotic and tough for foreigners like China, this may indeed be an essential tool for the less experienced travellers, and a greatly useful aid to the more experienced ones too. The coverage of places to stay and eat is absolutely excellent, not just for the major cities but also for minor towns and sites (the authors would indeed seem to have been to everywhere in China where the government did not stop them from going !). The section on permits and other legal matters is of immense value to anyone, and well up-to-date. And of course, the sections and special chapters on history, culture, religion, are extremely well written, great for the traveller and the armchair reader alike. Even though the best discoveries are those a traveller will make herself / himself, this guidebook is surely a great tool and help in anyone's discovery of this wonderful land. All in all, a masterpiece despite its limitations. A weakness is of course that things being as volatile as they are in China, information is subject to unexpected changes, and some may have become out-of-date by the time this book was printed. But this is of course inevitable, and it simply means that - as in any country - a traveller should not rely on only a guidebook, but make a considerable effort to gain as much as possible of current circumstances on her / his own, which is in fact part of the wonderful travel experience.
Rating:
Summary: A very hard and very well-managed and great endeavour
Review: This edition of "Lonely Planet China" is excellent. It is better than the previous one, which was very good itself but had some weaknesses. Despite the immensity of China and the numberless topics and regions that have to be covered herein, the authors have done an excellent job indeed. Most of LP's masterpieces are guidebooks to much smaller countries or regions (it is indeed inevitable for travel guidebooks to be the better, in overall terms, the smaller the region they cover). But this one is an exception: despite its hugeness, China has been covered with superb maestry by people who do know about it. Having said this, we cannot diminish the importance of LP's guidebooks to Beijing and Shanghai - if you are planning to spend much time in those cities, it may be a good idea to get those guidebooks also, since this huge and heavy book cannot cover as much of those cities as the authors thsemselves would obviously love to. The same obviously applies for Hong Kong and Macau, Taiwan, and Tibet, all of which have generated their own LP guidebooks. Xinjiang is instead wonderfully covered in "LP Central Asia". This is not to persuade you to get more and more guidebooks, but China is indeed an immense place and one book can hardly be enough to cover it all in depth. In this book itself, its excellent coverage of some regions is stronger than others: it is better on the Coastal towns than it is on the deep interior of China, which reflects indeed the number of tourists who go to these places. Having said this, this book does nevertheless contain most of what a visitor will need or want to know about big China. And in a place that is chaotic and tough for foreigners like China, this may indeed be an essential tool for the less experienced travellers, and a greatly useful aid to the more experienced ones too. The coverage of places to stay and eat is absolutely excellent, not just for the major cities but also for minor towns and sites (the authors would indeed seem to have been to everywhere in China where the government did not stop them from going !). The section on permits and other legal matters is of immense value to anyone, and well up-to-date. And of course, the sections and special chapters on history, culture, religion, are extremely well written, great for the traveller and the armchair reader alike. Even though the best discoveries are those a traveller will make herself / himself, this guidebook is surely a great tool and help in anyone's discovery of this wonderful land. All in all, a masterpiece despite its limitations. A weakness is of course that things being as volatile as they are in China, information is subject to unexpected changes, and some may have become out-of-date by the time this book was printed. But this is of course inevitable, and it simply means that - as in any country - a traveller should not rely on only a guidebook, but make a considerable effort to gain as much as possible of current circumstances on her / his own, which is in fact part of the wonderful travel experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Preety good for a sparse field
Review: This is a pretty good book, but the points about it inaccuracies should be noted. In their defense China is a very rapidly changing country (in shanghai I once counted over thirty cranes from one spot) so any guidebook will quickly be out of date. [...] if you are looking for a guidebook to paint you a pretty discovery channel Sunday school vision - this is not the book for you. On the other hand if you are a serious traveler who wants to get a more 'real' travel experience this is probably the best book in the pack of china guides. I know its been a big help to me on a number of occasions.
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