Weaning Myself off China Travel Guidebooks

Have something to add? Join the discussion! Click here to leave a comment. No registration required!

You are Here: Home>> Traveling in China >>Weaning Myself Off China Travel Guidebooks

Click Here to Subsribe to the 'Traveling in China' Feed

Weaning Myself Off China Travel Guidebooks

Written by Robert Vance on July 8, 2008 – 11:36 pm

I always used to carry a Lonely Planet Guidebook with me wherever I traveled. Then one tragic day, while I was journeying in western India, I discovered that I had left my precious guidebook in the hotel where I had last stayed. I desperately called the hotel and begged them to send me the book. They promised that they would send it on the next bus but I never received it; my Lonely Planet India Guidebook (which had cost me 20 USD) was gone forever.

At first, I felt as if I had lost my eyesight. I had truly come to rely on the guidebook for everything from transportation to entertainment. But as I got off the bus that day and stepped into the hot Thar desert of western India, I suddenly realized that my backpack felt a little lighter and I began to relish the thought of finding my own way. That night, I found a clean and comfortable hotel to stay in that had never even been mentioned in my guidebook. I took a little walk and discovered a delightful rooftop restaurant where I enjoyed a tasty pizza and a healthy green salad.

Since that fateful day in western India, I have never carried a guidebook with me again. Instead, I have come to rely on Internet travel sources as well as simply asking people for directions or information. There have been times of course, that I wished I could consult with a guidebook, but in the end, I have had more fun exploring in my own way.

I am not condemning those who choose to lug a guidebook around with them on their travels; they do provide some extra security. Nevertheless, in a developing country like China, where major changes can seemingly happen overnight, guidebooks do have their limitations. What was a small budget hotel yesterday may now be a noisy karaoke bar or Internetcafe. A bus route that may have taken you deep into Tibet last month may now be completely closed off to foreigners. As such, serious travelers need to have up-to-date information in China’s fast changing environment.

The Internet is a terrific tool for finding the current travel information that you need. I have often planned an entire trip on the Internet and then used Internet cafes to keep me up to date with any changes or alerts of which I needed to be aware. I have always been able to find helpful information on the Internet about transportation, lodging, sightseeing, and safety issues.

Where should you look for reliable and current travel information? There are many travel websites to choose from but I would suggest that you start by looking on Google or Google Blog Search for information. For example, if you are looking for the best way to visit the Terracotta Warriors from your hotel in Xian, you would type something in like “take bus from Xian to Terracotta Warriors.” This search should bring up a number of websites, blogs, and comments, that will lead you to the answer that you are searching for.

Of course, you should not automatically believe everything you read on the Internet. Just because someone claims that you can take a trolley up to the peak of Mount Everest does not necessarily mean that its true. Always verify the accuracy of th travel information by finding a few other sources that contain the same information. Common sense also goes a long way in helping to discern which information can be trusted.

How should you store the travel information that you have found on the Internet? That is the best part! You only need to take away with you the information that is relevant to your travel plans. In other words, you will not have to carry a guidebook with you in Southern China that contains half a pound of information about Northern China. In the past, I have stored the information by 1). writing it down on a piece of paper (revolutionary idea I know), 2). saving it on a flash drive, 3). printing it out if possible or 4). in extreme casesusing my digital camera to take a snapshot of a map or other information that I cannot easily copy.

Asking for directions is a little less secure of a way to obtain travel information but it can also be a good way to interact with the culture. Most Chinese people are willing to help you find your way to a traveling point in their area. Do not worry too much about whether or not you speak Chinese. If you know the name of where you are going in Chinese, someone should be able to point you in the right direction.

In conclusion, I believe that travel guidebooks are becoming relics of the past. Instead of carrying a 400 page book with me everywhere I go, I can now use the Internet to satisfy my travel needs. Some may cry that this is a sad commentary on a world where the Internet is replacing the need for books. I disagree; I still prefer reading books to find information over using the Internet. However, on an intense journey where I am in a new city almost every other night, it is nice to have one less weight to carry in my backpack.

What do you think about using guidebooks for traveling? Leave me a comment below.

Bookmark It