Antique yet up-to-the-minute, familiar yet unrecognisable, outwardly urban but quintessentially rural, conservative yet path-breaking, space-age but old-fashioned, China is a land of mesmerising and eye-opening contradictions. Inside this book… 11 intrepid authors,198 maps, 76 temples & monasteries, 100s of noodle spots, Beijing & Hong Kong pull-out map, Special Great Wall feature. You can trust this travel information because Lonely Planet authors visit the places they write about, each and every edition. They never accept freebies for positive coverage, and you can rely on them to tell it like they see it.