For thousands of years, the Chinese believed that they had created a perfect social system. Dynasties came & went, but the essence of being Chinese remained more or less unchanged until the twentieth century. Following invasion by the Japanese, civil war, & revolution, in 1949 Mao Zedong & the Communists took power. China was largely closed off from the rest of the world, undergoing almost constant revolution at an often terrible price. After Mao s death in 1976 the country opened its doors to the West & introduced a nascent market economy, called socialism with Chinese characteristics. China became the workshop of the world. Low wages & a low yuan boosted exports & created jobs for millions. ...

The Freytag & Bernt China & Mongolia map is a clear general-purpose indexed road map at 1:4, 000, 000 scale, ideal for planning & touring. The national road networks of motorways & primary roads are shown clearly, with under-construction section marked, & selected provincial & minor roads are marked including some unsurfaced tracks. Intermediate driving distances are shown alongside the routes. The Great Wall of China is also shown. Administrative & international boundaries are clearly marked, & administrative area names are shown. Some detail on topography is shown with relief shading, & spot heights for high peaks & passes in metres. No contours are given. Natural features such as rivers & lakes, swamps & glaciers are indicated, & National Parks are marked. Symbols indicate UNESCO World Heritage sites, airports & ports, selected tourism & leisure facilities such as ski resorts & spas, & other selected points of interest. The multi-lingual legend

Includes:: English, & the map is indexed for major place names with a very clear, easy-to-read index. Latitude/ Longitude grid lines (WGS84 datum) are drawn at 4

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Detailed (but sometimes crowded) road map of China & Mongolia with hill shading, coloring & selected spot heights. A separate inset covers the Hainan Dao Island in China. Six different types of roads plus tracks are indicated with intermediate driving distances on main roads. Also marked are international & disputed boundaries, administrative boundaries, airports & ports, two kinds of railways, cease-fire lines, military demarcation lines & the Great Wall of China. Geographical information include national parks, interesting natural features, thermal springs, salt & intermittent lakes, marshes & swamps. Plus a series of symbols shows tourist points of interest, Buddhist temples & monasteries, mosques & Pagodas. Longitude & latitude lines are drawn at 3° intervals & the legend is in English, German, French & Hungarian. Printed on paper with an extensive index of place names on the reverse. ...

China on a double-sided map at 1:3, 000, 000 from Freytag & Berndt, with a separate booklet attached to the map cover containing an index & street plans of central Beijing, Lhasa, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Ulaanbaatar & Kathmandu. Coverage

Includes:: the whole of Mongolia, the Koreas, Nepal & Bhutan, also northern Burma with Mandalay, Indian Himalaya with Delhi, etc. Place names are in the Latin alphabet (except for larger towns within Russia, also shown in the Cyrillic). Topography of the whole region is well presented, particularly in Tibet & Xingjian, by relief shading & spot heights, with plenty of names of mountain ranges, peaks, deserts, etc. Road network gives distances on main routes. Railway lines are included & local airports are marked; the map also shows shipping routes. Also shown are internal administrative boundaries & names of the provinces. A range of small icons highlight various places of interest. Latitude & longitude lines are drawn at 1º intervals. The index, in a separate booklet attached to the map cover is arranged by country. Multilingual map legend

Includes:: English.



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China in the Odyssey Guides series; aimed at travellers particularly interested in the culture & history of their destination; the guides focus on the atmosphere, customs, & distinctive character of a country, region or city. As the only English language publisher based in China, Odyssey Guides specialize in Asian destinations, relying on the expertise of local writers. This gives readers more of an insider ...

China 1626 Replica Map by the Old Map Company is a reproduction of the map created for the famous atlas of the period by the master map maker John Speede Esq. The Old Map Company has recreated the antique maps of British counties, European cities & World countries originally crafted by master map maker John Speede Esq. whose work had accuracy & quality not surpassed for centuries. Each map is treated & presented on specially crafted paper then h&-treated giving it texture & an aged appearance before being beautifully engraved & detailed. ...

This is a spectacular & lavish portrait of China, the world's oldest civilization
- past, present & future. You can take an incredible
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If you are planning a trip to China or if just want to get to know a little more about the Chinese, let ” China A-Z” by writer & journalist Kai Strittmatter be your introduction to this marvellous country & its people. The book is both amusing & informative, giving an understanding of the world’s fastest growing superpower, its ancient tradition & the millions of Chinese who inhabits its lands. All Chinese look the same, some say. Same goes for Europeans. Did you know that our Olympic hosts in 2008 don’t eat soup, they drink it? That their surnames come before their first names? That their good sense is to be found not in their heads but in their hearts? Or that white is their colour of mourning? Kai Strittmatter lived & worked in China for ten years & in this fascinating book he lets in on a few secrets. Introducing us to some telling Chinese symbols
- but not all 57, 000 of them!
- he explains in a wealth of charming, amusing anecdotes & what they reveal of China & its people. On the way we meet pensioners who practice the art of street calligraphy, read the Beijing police’s hilarious English phrasebook & have the dubious pleasure of sampling trendy ‘ Western’ food, as well as a hundred other surprises. With the Beijing Olympics 2008 luring even more travellers to China, this amusing, affectionate & perceptive book provides a fascinating guide to this lively, sociable & friendly people & their complex & often contradictory society. As the author says: ‘ Be prepared for everything when you come to Beijing. It really is unbelievable what can happen here.’‘ Anyone who has spent a night on the same floor of a hotel as a group of Chinese tourists will know that most Chinese love _re nao_: “heat & noise”. They love to go where lots of people are already squeezed together, where all hell has broken loose. _ Re nao_ is a state of being that people strive for because it brings them pleasure & joy. The idea is to dive into as large a mass of people as possible & then, through emitting as many decibels as possible, to reassure each other that you aren’t alone in the world. Some people still suspect that the construction plans for fireworks are encoded in Chinese genes. As a result, they invented them & use them with a mastery & pizzazz unequalled anywhere else in the world. Today _re nao_ is more popular than ever in China, thanks to the increase in happy occasions, which historically have been all too rare for this long-suffering people. The mother of all _re nao_’s was the day when it was announced that Beijing would host the Olympic Games. All that night you couldn’t understand a word the television reporters were saying. _ Re nao_ fits the Olympic spirit: the character _re_ once represented a torch-holder. The opposite of _re nao_ is _tai ping_, “the highest peace”. Here’s a tip: _tai ping_ can be found in Beijing in only one way
- you’ll have to be alone in a swimming pool, with both ears underwater.’`...this is a delightfully witty & insightful guide to todays China.` _ The Guardian_`A humourous & insightful study of life in China’ _WANDERLUST_


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An administrative map of China at 1:6, 500, 000 from Gizi Map showing the division of the country into provinces. All place names are given in both Chinese & Latin alphabet. Hong Kong & the Pearl River Delta are presented in a greater detail on an inset. China’s provinces are shown in bright contrasting colours. Town symbols indicate the size of the population. Main airports & ports are marked, as well as coastal & international shipping routes, Topographic information is limited to the network of rivers. Latitude & longitude lines are at 5° intervals. The map is not indexed. Multilingual map legend

Includes:: English. An inset shows Hong Kong & the Pearl River Delta region at 1:1, 000, 000.* This title is also available as a wall map.

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An administrative wall map of China at 1:6, 500, 000, size 96 x 68cm (38 x 27 approx), from Gizi Map showing the division of the country into provinces. All place names are given in both Chinese & Latin alphabet. Hong Kong & the Pearl River Delta are presented in a greater detail on an inset. China ...