Most Helpful Planning Book for China
Frommer?s 50 Most Memorable Trips is a great book to use while planning your trip to China. First of all, it gives you insight into what you would actually like to see. The very readable length chapters have helped me decided whether or not I would like to go to a certain city or site. Secondly, the tips at the end of the chapter are most helpful in knowing how to get to and from out of the way locations. Overall, I think it just helps in narrowing down the multitude of options available on an extended trip to China.
All that said, it is not a guide. It would not be the book I would take while on a trip to China. Though taking some notes from it or copying some pages might be worthwhile to add to the backpack.