Rating: 
Summary: very comprehensive
Review: I've worked in China for some time, and also worked at a Chinese company in my home country. I read this book before I left for China. It helped me a lot in a way that I knew a bit about their customs in advance... it would have taken me a longer time, and surely some painfull moments if had not read it. Especially every word about doing business and related customs were true (especialy the note on the 'special friend relations').
Rating: 
Summary: A unique look at China.
Review: It's not bad - just a little different from many other "travel" books. It's a bit outdated, though.
Rating: 
Summary: Xie xie, (Thank you), Kevin Sinclair
Review: Kevin Sinclair was so accurate in his description of traveling in China that we felt he had walked the same hutongs, crossed the same streets [carefully], been courted by the same businessmen at the same restaurants drinking the same liquids and toasting, [and re-toasting] each others' good health. Though we didn't understand most of the toasts that were offered us, we offer this to toast to Kevin Sinclair: "For making our trip to China a blast! For encouraging us to get to know the people and the places, and for helping us to understand the Chinese way, so that we were truly able to enjoy and celebrate the diversity of human lifestyles!" And to those who are heading to China - read it! Or why bother going?
Rating: 
Summary: Odd viewpoint for a Westerner
Review: The "Culture Shock" series is well-established and usually helpful, but the choice of this author to write what must be one of their more popular titles is baffling. Some of the insights are helpful, such as the section on religion, what to expect when traveling, food, etc. But the editing is poor and there is much repetition and unnecessary discussion of how China used to be, not how it is today. I agree with others that there seems an unnecessary emphasis on sexual issues and prostitution, including some of the author's own experiences, and a weird comment to the effect that while he often is approached by women, he prefers to do the choosing himself. Sinclair's personal political views are rather unusual and keep intruding. Sinclair is an unabashed admirer of the system, and he says that for the Chinese, all they have to do is obey the law and they'll be fine. I think in general Westerners are far too judgmental in criticizing other countries and cultures, but Sinclair takes this attitude to an extreme. Again focusing on prostitution, he tells us that if arrested, pimps are hauled away and summarily executed--and this is perfectly OK with him! He maintains that religion is freely practiced, and when certain practices are suppressed, such as Falun Gong, it's justified based on the problems such cults have caused in the past. There are better books out there, especially for the traveler who isn't taking up residence there. I wouldn't waste a lot of time on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the time and money
Review: This book really provides a novice China traveler with a glimpse of the cultural and behavioral context in which s/he will operate. Very helpful.
Rating:
Summary: OK, But There's More to Know (and Other Books Can Help You)
Review: This guide offers useful tips on how western business people and visitors should behave around Chinese clients/hosts, but irritatingly leaves out any and all difficult information about Chinese habits and customs that the average vistor (including business people) may be bewildered by, due to their strangeness or initial unpleasantness, but which to know about will help them both cope with and understand China better (and ultimately, appreciate it more positively). When I lived in Hong Kong and was visiting China frequently (1990's), I (like other expats) supplemented books like Culture Shock China with Taiwanese writer Bo Yang's "The Ugly Chinaman and the Crisis in Chinese Culture." This book helped me to understand the underbelly of Chinese society that I was constantly running into (rude public actions and behaviour, personal habits I did not understand), aspects of China any westerner is bound to run into but which Kevin Sinclair shies away from dealing with. I also agree with the other reviewers who wish Sinclair would stop going about how long he has lived in Hong Kong propping up the bar at the Better 'Ole or Foreign Correspondent's Club - being a long-term western resident in my day was a fact more to hide than to to shout about, and perhaps the author will, in future editions, use the valuable space lost to address the side of things westerners will be unprepared for with his book. In addition to Bo Yang's useful book, I recommend a couple of others. Timothy Mo's The Monkey King, though a novel, gave insight into Chinese attitudes and actions that I found extremely helpful and accurate - I felt I met the characters in Mo's book repeatedly during my time in China. Another novel, Paul Theroux's Kowloon Tong, gives valuable insight into the mentality of long-term western residents of China/Hong Kong - like that of the author of this book, Culture Shock China.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the worst book I read in years
Review: This is the most biased book on China. It reads like a bad joke and the author obviously doesn't understand China or Chinese culture. When he describes Tiananmen protest of 1989, one feels he is paid by the Chinese govenment.
Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: What a waste of time! The book did not deliver as promised. Instead it reads like an account of an ethno-centric, priviledged British man talking about how it USED to be and very little about how it is. This book offers little insight and almost NO concrete tips for understanding customs and etiquette. His intended audience is obviously very limited, businessmen to be exact. He does not take into account that women also travel to China (the only time he refers to women traveling/living in China is when he refers to housewives who tag along with their husbands). I found it rather disturbing that he continually refers to prostitution in China, as well as sexual mores, even when it is not relevant. I can understand touching upon these subjects, but they appear over and over, again for no reason other than he finds it necessary to warn businessmen of "exotic" Chinese women and their ways. This book is nothing more than an excuse to reconfirm how "strange and exotic" China is, instead of providing real insight to Chinese culture for travelers and businesspeople alike. Reading this book was a complete waste of time and money!
Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: What a waste of time! The book did not deliver as promised. Instead it reads like an account of an ethno-centric, priviledged British man talking about how it USED to be and very little about how it is. This book offers little insight and almost NO concrete tips for understanding customs and etiquette. His intended audience is obviously very limited, businessmen to be exact. He does not take into account that women also travel to China (the only time he refers to women traveling/living in China is when he refers to housewives who tag along with their husbands). I found it rather disturbing that he continually refers to prostitution in China, as well as sexual mores, even when it is not relevant. I can understand touching upon these subjects, but they appear over and over, again for no reason other than he finds it necessary to warn businessmen of "exotic" Chinese women and their ways. This book is nothing more than an excuse to reconfirm how "strange and exotic" China is, instead of providing real insight to Chinese culture for travelers and businesspeople alike. Reading this book was a complete waste of time and money!
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