4 hours ago, KennethT said:I saw a lot of hawberry-on-a-stick vendors in Beijing. All the guide books said it was a Beijing "must have". I wish locals wrote guidebooks. Ever think about a side business???
I don't think it is possible to write a decent guide book to China. Even a series covering individual provinces would be near impossible. It is such a culturally, sociologically and linguistically fragmented culture. I could write a guide to Liuzhou and it would be useless In Guilin just up the road, obviously in the particulars, but also in the generalities.
When I first arrived, I clutched my Lonely Planet guide like my life depended on it. I now know 90% of what it told me was either wrong or irrelevant. The food section was utterly useless. They obviously didn't realise that names of ingredients and dishes can change within the same market or restaurant depending on who serves you! I still have that guide book and pull it out when I want a laugh. I am convinced the person who wrote the Liuzhou section never got off the train.
There are a lot of things I could write about China, but a guide book is way down the list.
