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| Visiting Historic Beijing: A Guide to Sites & Resources | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert L. Thorp
Publisher: Floating World Editions
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.37
You Save: $9.58 (38%)
Buy New/Used from $15.06
Avg. Customer Rating:  (1 reviews)
Sales Rank: 980503
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 1891640534
Dewey Decimal Number: 915
EAN: 9781891640537
ASIN: 1891640534
Publication Date: June 27, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In this follow-up to Visiting China's Past, Professor Robert Thorp offers a guided tour of historic Beijing. Beginning with early cities that preceded the modern capital, the author introduces Dadu, established by Khubilai Khan in 1267 and known to Marco Polo as Cambaluc. This guide's focus, however, is the great architectural monuments of the Ming and Qing dynasties (ca. 1421-1912). Altogether, thirty-two sites are explored in detail: the city's walls and gates; the imperial city and palaces (the Forbidden City); state altars and imperial tombs; Buddhist and Daoist temples as well as mosques; and residences (both princely mansions and courtyard houses) and gardens. A final chapter summarizes developments of the early twentieth century. Each chapter discusses the history and cultural context of these sites, while entries describe the main structures complemented by numerous plans, photographs, and diagrams. Although both chapters and entries "stand alone," extensive cross-referencing encourages readers to find related information, and each chapter concludes with suggested titles for further reading. A list of suggested walking tours and extensive bibliography (both English and Chinese) complete the text. Visiting Historic Beijing is an excellent guide for anyone planning to visit Beijing, and a fascinating introduction to Chinese culture through the architecture and urban planning of one of the world's most magnificent capitals.
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| Customer Reviews:
A great new resource July 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Considering the historic importance of Beijing, the collection of reliable, English-language historical guides for the visitor is remarkably small. Classic English-language texts from the 20s and 30s are long out of print and in any case describe things which disappeared decades ago. Local publications in Beijing's bookshops feature glossy color shots and vapid, hyperbolic text written by tourism bureaucrats. International guidebooks can only include the most basic historical data.
The underlying problem is that most of the work of Chinese scholars of the city's monuments and sites is accessible only to specialists. Robert L Thorp is one specialist who has shared his knowledge with the general reader. His new publication, Visiting Historic Beijing, is the book I wish I had owned when I first arrived in the city. The author, deeply versed in Chinese language and archaeology, does an expert job of making the complexities of his field understandable to the non-specialist. The first chapter deftly sketches the pre-Ming history of the capital and describes the few remaining monuments from that era.
The next chapter turns to the walls and gates of the city, first setting the scene by describing the process of urban design at the beginning of the Ming period, then tracing the construction (and destruction) of the city's walls, before turning to a detailed description of the monuments that have survived into the present era.
The remaining chapters follow the same pattern, creating a historical and cultural backdrop against which the chapter's descriptions, diagrams, notations and photos come to life. Information boxes throughout the book draw disparate facts together or cast sidelights on topics as diverse as the divine status of the emperor, the history of the palace museum and the best elevated views of the capital. Other bonuses include suggested walking tours and books for further reading.
We can regret the absence of color plates, but it is actually a good compromise that keeps the book affordable. A more substantial, if still mild irritation is the author's politeness to the Chinese authorities in glossing over the wholesale destruction of historic areas in the modern era: he makes much of the city's admirable 2002 heritage conservation plan, but doesn't mention that this document was all but ignored in 2008 during the destruction of the famous Qianmen district to make way for a faux-historical retail precinct.
But this is a quibble: Visiting Historic Beijing is invaluable to anyone who wants a reliable, readable, scholarly description of the historic treasures of the Chinese capital.
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