I purchased the paperback version of this book. It is nicely laid out. The print is of good size and legible, although I found the practice of using subscripts rather than superscripts for endnote designation to be a bit distracting, simply because I’m not used to it. There are no illustrations or photos other than those on the covers. However, one can easily find photos of the attractions discussed on the internet, including the author’s own website, where very nice supplemental information is provided.
The introduction contains a minimal amount of general advice for travelers, including the necessity to carry toilet paper because of the lack thereof in public lavatories. Another thing mentioned was the importance of having one’s passport with oneself at all times.
Rather than use the BC/AD date system, which professes a belief in Christian theology and is therefore inappropriate for a general readership and especially for a book about a historically non-Christian people like the Chinese, the author correctly uses the BCE/CE date system throughout. She is to be commended for such a show of respect, which is almost never exhibited by the major travel book publishers.
Rather than discuss as many of the myriad Guangzhou attractions as possible, the author chooses to concentrate on seven of them and discuss them in detail. She is an insider, someone who lived in the city for a while, as opposed to the usual travel writer, and that makes her comments more valuable. She includes observations about each attraction by “hosts,” native Chinese, a different one for each attraction, and they provide their own insights. I imagine this approach was used to add interest, and it’s partially successful in that respect. It would have been more successful if the hosts had been more knowledgeable about the particular cultural attractions they were commenting on. Also included are extensive comments from correspondence written by Mrs. Henry Gray, published in 1880. These comments have historical interest although don’t relate all that much to the attractions featured in this book.
The attractions covered include the Chen Clan Academy, the Guangdong Museum, the Museum of the Nanyue King of the Western Han Dynasty, the Temples of Yuexiu district, Yuexiu Park, Baiyun Mountain Reserve, and the Chimelong Safari Park. Inclusion of the latter, I think, was a waste, as it appears to be essentially just a zoo, although it does have an open-land area. In my view, most zoos, although claiming to have an educational role, are really for gawking at exploited animals. Another historical or cultural attraction would have been more suitable for inclusion.
The great amount of detail rendered for each of the historical attractions will prepare one nicely for a personal visit. One’s eyes will be opened and one will know what to look for when one is there. The book is very well written, and I recommend it.
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Top reviews from other countries
Walter Fung
Excellent tourist map of Guangzhou.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 11, 2015