Explore the Great Wall (Rucksack Readers)

walking notes on seven sections in detail drop-down mapping of the Wall and sections practical information about transport and travel lavishly illustrated, with 70 color photographs rucksack-friendly format with open-flat binding.

I went to China armed with the appropriate Rough Guide which devotes about 4 pages (albeit of small print)- and does not do it justice. `Explore the Great Wall' gives you the background history and descriptions of the other sections of the Wall that enabled me to put the tourist section (at Badaling) into context. It helped me realise that there is great variety in the Eastern sections of the Wall. In fact, the first revelation was that my schoolboy concept of a continuous Great Wall was far from reality: as the maps show, there are several Walls dating from different dynasties and they are far from continuous.

I am less convinced about the general information on planning and preparation because there is insufficient room within this compact, rucksack-sized publication for all of the detail I think you need to plan and execute a trip to China (unless you are very accustomed to ad hoc travel). The real value of this book lies in the history of the construction of the Great Wall and the detailed descriptions of the sections that are within reasonably easy reach of Beijing.

The photographs are, as in the other Rucksack Readers, excellent and far better than those I took, in November, on an overcast day when it was starting to snow! My reward was that I was almost alone on the Badaling section (described in the Reader as the single most visited place on the Wall). Perhaps no one ever succumbed to loneliness on the Badaling section: I might have suffered from exposure had I not kept warm climbing uneven sets of steps and marvelling at the atmospheric views that appeared through the mists.

This book is a must for anyone visiting the Great Wall - whether as a walker or a member of an organised tour.