Lonely Planet China
The star-studded author team for this in-depth guide includes China experts Damien Harper and Bradley Mayhew, with Chinese journalists Min Dai and Lin Gu.

In-Flight Chinese: Learn Before You Land
Living Language In-Flight Chinese is the perfect boarding pass to learning Chinese before you land. There's no better way to make use of all that spare time on a plane than to master the essentials of a language.

This 60-minute program is the simplest way to learn just enough to get by in every situation essential to both the tourist and business traveler.

The program covers everything from greetings and polite expressions to asking directions, getting around, checking into a hotel, and going to a restaurant. There are even sections for meeting people and spending a night on the town.

Short lessons make In-Flight Chinese easy to use, and a handy pocket-sized insert is included as a cheat sheet for use on the go.

First Pass Under Heaven:
One Man's 4,000-Kilometre Trek Along the
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is the largest man-made structure ever built, stretching for over 4,000 kilometres from central Asia, across the Gobi Desert, through the remote, cold mountains of northern China to end on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Nathan Gray, a young New Zealand lawyer, wanted to be the first person in history to walk the entire length of the Great Wall. In October 2000 he set off with four fellow travellers - a Buddhist monk from Singapore, a Jewish photojournalist from Argentina, a Catholic recording artist from Italy and a Mormon golfer. Conceived as an idealistic trek to mark the millennium in cultural, racial and religious harmony, one month in reality bit. Blizzards, lightning strikes, thirst, starvation, snakes and police detention all took their toll. After 3,000 kilometres, having witnessed the fatal stabbing of a Chinese friend and being chased at gunpoint by soldiers, Nathan succumbed to physical and mental fatigue and returned to New Zealand. Unable to accept defeat, he returned three months later to complete the challenge; the final 1,000 kilometres.