Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: An entertaining and engaging book which will do a very good job of preparing the reader for the real China. Having spent several months in China after reading this, I can say that it was one of the best jobs of preparing me for what I actually experienced. China is changing so fast that no text, including this one can be 100% correct, but it came very close.
Rating: 
Summary: Amusing, Informative
Review: At once endearing, amusing, and definitely an informative read. I don't know how accurate all of the info is, since I am a reader and unfortunately not yet a traveler, but this is definitely a compelling and fascinating book. The author seems a bit aggressive in some of his views. I can understand the 1 star rating, yet this book is VERY entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: The right book for people on the way to do business in China
Review: I am doing business in China, and leaving there. I found the book comprehensive in covering the BASIC day to day behavior, and the do's and don't do's.Since the book is a revised edition, it might lack some of the most up to date feelings in the Chinese business streets. I feel it lacks specific expat issues like: Immigration issues, How to deal in markets, Medical care, etc. Overall, this is one of the best prep books I read, and by far better then the three (!!) cross cultural seminars I took.
Rating:
Summary: Must, espec. for anyone plng work or living in China. A+
Review: I have read and reviewed lots of guide books. This is the best. I compared it with the similar guide to Korea and found this writer's style very direct, enjoyable and honest. I had started reading it before heading to China at the end of Mar. 2001 to see about jobs teaching ESL. I was engrossed reading this on planes and also the express train between Shanghai and Nanjing. The book is so incredibly accurate and insightful, that after meeting with three possible students coming from single-child families, I understood directly how the family planning movement affected the typical family. Descriptions of Nanjing and Shanghai were right on. I didn't get to Beijing but possibly this was due to admonitions about it being the most polluted city in China. I would have wished the author spent a bit more time describing other cities such as Jinan, Yantai and Nanching. Surely the next edition will include parts on the new economic development zones, Macau, Hong Kong and Hainan. I am planning on moving to China. Like my Visa card, I will not leave home without the book. There are guidebooks. This book provides enjoyable, readable, informative material. I plan to read again and again, then share with some Chinese friends. For those traveling, keep some tissue in your fanny pack. The airplanes and flight schedules are much better than before and offer fine service. Having had a great dinner consisting of some riblet slices of Peking Duck, a Chinese herb-spaghettti dish and delightful vegetable broth for 7.5 RMB, then buying whole sliced pineapples to eat in my hotel room for 3-5 RMB and finding the same items priced above $5 in US stores, I found China to be a bargain as well as having excellent food. No one I spoke with heard of "Chop Suey" or "Chow Mein." The author doesn't mention this but so what. He indicates that go by the rules and one will be fine. The Chinese are a very proud people. At least some of our Congresspeople and diplomatic statespeople should read this twice before departing for or speaking about China. China is the new great economic superpower. Don't wait five-ten years. Now is the time to go and get in, while opportunities abound. Dr. Alan D. Kardoff, Melbourne FL, Mgmtdr@hotmail.com
Rating:
Summary: Must, espec. for anyone plng work or living in China. A+
Review: I have read and reviewed lots of guide books. This is the best. I compared it with the similar guide to Korea and found this writer's style very direct, enjoyable and honest. I had started reading it before heading to China at the end of Mar. 2001 to see about jobs teaching ESL. I was engrossed reading this on planes and also the express train between Shanghai and Nanjing. The book is so incredibly accurate and insightful, that after meeting with three possible students coming from single-child families, I understood directly how the family planning movement affected the typical family. Descriptions of Nanjing and Shanghai were right on. I didn't get to Beijing but possibly this was due to admonitions about it being the most polluted city in China. I would have wished the author spent a bit more time describing other cities such as Jinan, Yantai and Nanching. Surely the next edition will include parts on the new economic development zones, Macau, Hong Kong and Hainan. I am planning on moving to China. Like my Visa card, I will not leave home without the book. There are guidebooks. This book provides enjoyable, readable, informative material. I plan to read again and again, then share with some Chinese friends. For those traveling, keep some tissue in your fanny pack. The airplanes and flight schedules are much better than before and offer fine service. Having had a great dinner consisting of some riblet slices of Peking Duck, a Chinese herb-spaghettti dish and delightful vegetable broth for 7.5 RMB, then buying whole sliced pineapples to eat in my hotel room for 3-5 RMB and finding the same items priced above $5 in US stores, I found China to be a bargain as well as having excellent food. No one I spoke with heard of "Chop Suey" or "Chow Mein." The author doesn't mention this but so what. He indicates that go by the rules and one will be fine. The Chinese are a very proud people. At least some of our Congresspeople and diplomatic statespeople should read this twice before departing for or speaking about China. China is the new great economic superpower. Don't wait five-ten years. Now is the time to go and get in, while opportunities abound. Dr. Alan D. Kardoff, Melbourne FL, Mgmtdr@hotmail.com
Rating:
Summary: The beginning to unlocking the key to Chinese culture
Review: I have used the Culture Shock! series many times, but feel compelled to write about this particular one. Culture Shock! China does give a good feeling of how the Chinese work. With such special analogies like the onion peel theory and the entire chapter devoted to "Mei You" (if you have ever traveled to China or will this is the key phrased used on foreigners) this book gives a good broad perspective of what a traveler will find in the Chinese Culture. It is well written and organized and reads very easily - good airplane book.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, But There's More to Know (and Other Books Can Help You)
Review: I like the Culture Shock Series. They give me the information I most want when I am going to visit a culture that is substantially different than my own. I think the Culture Shock editors need to find a new writer for their China book-or at least a new edition should be released with a better editing job. The author repeats himself over and over--which is annoying to say the least. But, more than that there is an arrogance in the presentation that is really grating. Nobody can really understand China like him and his buddies -- we are made to endure descriptions of them at bars together drinking and talking about the old days...who care?? He is so, so in-the-know that he gets to be hard to take. I guess if I were a businessperson going to China I might have found this book a little more useful. The author aims his discussions at business practices and attitudes toward trade. But he doesn't seem to understand that travelers might want a more full picture of the people and their culture-not just how to make a deal with the folks. I was really disappointed by things like in a chapter called "Tips for Survival" the author spends pages talking about how lonely the (sic) "wives" of all the western business people can get. And as a strategy he says these lonely women ought to go to a tourist hotel and use the gym there to find someone to talk to. Now that doesn't tell me much about the Chinese. Which is what I am looking for in the book. And, he says over and over that the Chinese are super friendly, etc. SO if they are friendly why not tell the lonely "wives" pointers on how to meet some of the locals to end their loneliness with some Chinese friends. That is just one example of a number of rather strange things in the book. There are plenty more. I gave it 2 stars instead of one because, if you were going to China to do business you might find it useful. I am going there on vacation and I didn't find what I was looking for.
Rating:
Summary: A Bad apple in a good series of books
Review: I like the Culture Shock Series. They give me the information I most want when I am going to visit a culture that is substantially different than my own. I think the Culture Shock editors need to find a new writer for their China book-or at least a new edition should be released with a better editing job. The author repeats himself over and over--which is annoying to say the least. But, more than that there is an arrogance in the presentation that is really grating. Nobody can really understand China like him and his buddies -- we are made to endure descriptions of them at bars together drinking and talking about the old days...who care?? He is so, so in-the-know that he gets to be hard to take. I guess if I were a businessperson going to China I might have found this book a little more useful. The author aims his discussions at business practices and attitudes toward trade. But he doesn't seem to understand that travelers might want a more full picture of the people and their culture-not just how to make a deal with the folks. I was really disappointed by things like in a chapter called "Tips for Survival" the author spends pages talking about how lonely the (sic) "wives" of all the western business people can get. And as a strategy he says these lonely women ought to go to a tourist hotel and use the gym there to find someone to talk to. Now that doesn't tell me much about the Chinese. Which is what I am looking for in the book. And, he says over and over that the Chinese are super friendly, etc. SO if they are friendly why not tell the lonely "wives" pointers on how to meet some of the locals to end their loneliness with some Chinese friends. That is just one example of a number of rather strange things in the book. There are plenty more. I gave it 2 stars instead of one because, if you were going to China to do business you might find it useful. I am going there on vacation and I didn't find what I was looking for.
Rating: 
Summary: You can find much better books available.
Review: I purchased this Culture Shock book when I moved to China for a year to teach English. It was my first exposure to the Culture Shock series. I found this book to have a very discouraging view of China and the book gave me all sorts of false impressions of what to expect. Granted, I found the book was geared more towards the business traveler than others, but I found most of the advice to be useless or out of date. In fact, I found most of the impressions which the book created to be false after only a short time in China. If you are planning on going to China, I would recommend that you purchase a book such as the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide series instead. These books give a better feel for the history and culture than the Culture Shock book.
Rating:
Summary: You can find much better books available.
Review: I purchased this Culture Shock book when I moved to China for a year to teach English. It was my first exposure to the Culture Shock series. I found this book to have a very discouraging view of China and the book gave me all sorts of false impressions of what to expect. Granted, I found the book was geared more towards the business traveler than others, but I found most of the advice to be useless or out of date. In fact, I found most of the impressions which the book created to be false after only a short time in China. If you are planning on going to China, I would recommend that you purchase a book such as the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide series instead. These books give a better feel for the history and culture than the Culture Shock book.
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