Shanghai

by Damian Harper, David Eimer, Lonely Planet

Complemented by easy-to use, reliable maps, helpful recommendations, authoritative background information, and up-to-date coverage of things to see and do, these helpful travel guides, written by local experts on each city, offer detailed coverage of cities around the world for travelers of every budget, along with extensive itineraries, neighborhood descriptions, insider advice, street maps, entertainment and shopping recommendations, "green" travel tips, and many other features.

Genres: Travel, China, Nonfiction, Asia

276 pages, Paperback

First published February 12, 2001

Reviews

[Michael Flick]

Just back from 8 days in Shanghai. This book was moderately interesting for background information before the trip, but its organization and spotty coverage made it pretty much useless once there.

[Stasi Shuleva]

Well… this is a different read, if I might say so.

Saw it from a friend and decided to check it out. I had never thought of guides as having too much to offer, cause at the end of the day you can google so much.

However, I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the overview of it all and the things such a guide can have. From traditional food and history to a literal app for public toilets. I mean, the information is quite useful, even when it got me a bit worried (“no, the city is safe, just be careful of scams and… oh, yeah, don’t do something illegal cause Shanghai’s court puts people on death row more than any other place. There have been cases of international people being killed…”).

Safe to say I sound prepared, don’t I?!

[alana]

This Shanghai LP proved invaluable this week for its inclusion of addresses written in both Pinyin and Chinese characters. If you are taking taxis and don't speak Mandarin, just point to the address and you will get there. Brilliant!

As usual, I loved reading the history portions of this LP prior to visiting Shanghai.

The business turnover rate is high in Shanghai, and several restaurant locations listed in this book are no longer there. In other cases, the hours are no longer the same. The most up-to-date guide book would be essential if you are depending solely on recommended restaurants.

[Robin]

Decent maps and other essentials, but some lazy mistakes in the surrounding narratives. Also it would have helped to have more explicit instructions for how to get a refillable subway card.

Loved that the "Useful phrases" section included "I don't like innards." Useful indeed.

[Danielle]

Helpful for my brief trip to Shanghai. I wish the practical and architecture sections had been earlier in the book, though, as I didn’t finish reading before my trip and would have found them helpful when I was there.

[Jc]

Lots of great up-to-date advice that I made use of on my recent trip.

[Mojca]

3½ - 4 stars

[Jaap Grolleman]

It's an impossible task to describe a massive city like Shanghai in a book, especially coupled with the pace that Shanghai is cycling through its restaurants and shops that are mentioned inside.

[michelle]

Easy introduction for travelling to Shanghai, but it is a bit outdated. It provided some useful information about tourist attractions.

[Barry D.]

General information is Good, but some of the places mentioned (restaurants and bars) could not be found or were closed down.

The problem with these books is that they need to be reevaluated on a regular basis. As the book mentioned Shanghai consumes a large portion of the world concrete production that means that the city changes a lot.

In general a lot of useful tips, maps and tourist information.
I would recommend to have these kind of books in digital form with you. The lonely planet book series tend to be a bit large and heavy to just carry around in your luggage (with the exception of the pocket editions).

[Krys]

Obviously offering more detail than the big LP guidebook. For the most part, this series delivers the goods. But most frustrating is how practically every restaurant mentioned is no longer in existence. Other than that, it's been very helpful for finding my way around (and things to do) in both Shanghai and Hangzhou. Highly recommended for those who feel the need for at least a LITTLE sense of direction

[Todd]

Took a trip to Shanghai for the 2010 expo and brought this along. The information is alright, but the book is not written by a local. We tried one of the restaurant recommendations in a tourist area, and it was the worst meal of our stay. Lonely Planet puts out reasonable travel guides, and this one fits the bill, but it needs more local insight if it wants to earn its keep as one of the better guides.

[Jessica]

"Shanghai was one of the few safe havens for Jews fleeing the Holocaust in Europe as it required no passport nor visa to stay. Gestapo agents followed the refugees and, in 1942, tried to persuade the Japanese to build death camps on Chongming Island. Instead, in 1943, the Japanese forces Jews to move into a 'Designated Area for Stateless Refugees' in Hongkou."

[Vicky]

really helpful, that's how i got around, open up this book and keep on reading.. i still haven't been to all the places it mentioned even after 3 months of my stay here.

[Sagar Jethani]

Pretty good overview, as are most of the LP review guides.