Besides those who like memorizing maps (not a strange hobby indeed), it is almost impossible for us to find out where to go in unfamiliar places. Therefore everyone bring a guidebook when traveling. Lonely Planet (LP) and Eye-wittness (DK) are the most famous.
Though they are important reference on local lives, neither of them are good guidebooks. Or I should say, there is nothing called a good traveler's guide.
Those who are conscious enough may have already noticed that tourism is a form of soft colonism. Though LP has its set of idealistic claims for boosting economic growth, respecting local culture and promoting democratic ideology to developing countries, it also encourages westerners to bring their night life like pub and disco to foreign countries. A large number of tourists then reshape the local economy and the local people slowly change to the way foreign guests expect themselves to be. (Those who do not understand what this paragraph is talking about should go to the shopping centres at TST to have a look.)
Some may think that it is not related to them. Maybe yes. But it is not the only reason for asserting there is no good guide at all. In the editors' point of view, what they have to introduce are things that they expect tourists would find interesting, which do not mean those places would really interest you. So how can I find interesting sites besides relying on books? Two answers provided as follows. Point number one, ask someone who had been there. Point number two, not really an answer, which is to rethink whether it is necessary to have "sites" visited in a journey. Afterall, the city itself is the finest site to dig on. So please consider spending sometime on meaningless wandering.
On the other hand, a guide is not necessarily a physical guide but also a mental one. Some covers the technical side while others serve emotional purpose. You know much more on how to appreciate what you see after reading the technical guides; while other books may give no practical information, but provide an exotic atmosphere to bring yourself the mood of traveling, which can be pure observational, joyful, or introspective. Several examples are listed as follows:
玄奘, 大唐西域記
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities 看不見的城市
梁思成, 中國建築史
原廣司、槙文彥、黑川紀章, 都市地球學
Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book 黑色之書
So how about travel journals? Personally I never read these things, including photo albums similar to the reason of not reading prefaces not written by the author. It is not because they are in low quality, but simply because I do not want to be have some second handed first impression on what I am going to meet.
After all, what I would like to say is that there are something equally important to be read. They are read not for reliance, but to help oneself to become his own guide.
Some online practical guides
Wikitravel - The Free Worldwide Travel Guide
Hitchwiki - The Hitchhiker's Guide to Hitchhiking
Though they are important reference on local lives, neither of them are good guidebooks. Or I should say, there is nothing called a good traveler's guide.
Those who are conscious enough may have already noticed that tourism is a form of soft colonism. Though LP has its set of idealistic claims for boosting economic growth, respecting local culture and promoting democratic ideology to developing countries, it also encourages westerners to bring their night life like pub and disco to foreign countries. A large number of tourists then reshape the local economy and the local people slowly change to the way foreign guests expect themselves to be. (Those who do not understand what this paragraph is talking about should go to the shopping centres at TST to have a look.)
Some may think that it is not related to them. Maybe yes. But it is not the only reason for asserting there is no good guide at all. In the editors' point of view, what they have to introduce are things that they expect tourists would find interesting, which do not mean those places would really interest you. So how can I find interesting sites besides relying on books? Two answers provided as follows. Point number one, ask someone who had been there. Point number two, not really an answer, which is to rethink whether it is necessary to have "sites" visited in a journey. Afterall, the city itself is the finest site to dig on. So please consider spending sometime on meaningless wandering.
On the other hand, a guide is not necessarily a physical guide but also a mental one. Some covers the technical side while others serve emotional purpose. You know much more on how to appreciate what you see after reading the technical guides; while other books may give no practical information, but provide an exotic atmosphere to bring yourself the mood of traveling, which can be pure observational, joyful, or introspective. Several examples are listed as follows:
玄奘, 大唐西域記
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities 看不見的城市
梁思成, 中國建築史
原廣司、槙文彥、黑川紀章, 都市地球學
Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book 黑色之書
So how about travel journals? Personally I never read these things, including photo albums similar to the reason of not reading prefaces not written by the author. It is not because they are in low quality, but simply because I do not want to be have some second handed first impression on what I am going to meet.
After all, what I would like to say is that there are something equally important to be read. They are read not for reliance, but to help oneself to become his own guide.
Some online practical guides
Wikitravel - The Free Worldwide Travel Guide
Hitchwiki - The Hitchhiker's Guide to Hitchhiking
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