my edition has a different ISBN 978-1-4053-1737-5

Good guidebook. Identical to the sections on Beijing and Shanghai in the China guidebook, but more portable than the big book if you only need these sections. ( )

Review for Beijing only.

I am glad to see this guide book has been updated as Beijing has been considerably modernised for the Olympic Games. The 2007 copy I had was already out of date in many respects.
Having said that, the photos and layout are excellent, as we have come to expect from Dorling Kindersley books, and we must have made use of almost all the well presented chapters.
The section on restaurants was particularly helpful.
We did come unstuck though, when we tried to follow the Two-hour walk around Hou Hai (P 100). We got very lost and unfortunately missed many of the attractions en route. Certainly a tour worth following if you can get it right and it ends in an area where there are some wonderful evening watering holes!

It is worth noting the small comment on P 227 (of my copy) where you will find the warning relating to rickshaws "be careful if tempted to take these in Beijing or Shanghai - they frequently target tourists for substantial rip-offs". We were told the price would be 3 yuan and when we arrived, not even at our correct destination, the price had suddenly soared to 300 yuan!
Also note: Most travellers will probably be carrying Pounds, Euros or Dollars, which are readily exchanged. Coming from Dubai, however, we had Dirhams - which were impossible to exchange in any hotel or bank.

One problem I did find with the book was that it covered both Beijing and Shanghai and as we were only visiting Beijing, we were carrying a much heavier book around town with us than should have been necessary. I personally would have preferred the two cities to have been published separately.

So, excellent illustrations and very thorough but with some reservations.
I will certainly consider DK Travel Guides in the future. ( )