Book Review: “China: People, Place, Culture, History”

DK Publishing’s new “China: People, Place, Culture, History” is a wonderful addition to any travel library. But a travel-sized book it is not. Weighing in at over five pounds, it is the perfect size for a coffee table tome, hardcover, glossy, and beautiful, but it is not the book to throw in the pack and bring along for the adventure.

It is a wonderful book for a traveler or anyone with a curious and inquisitive soul. Divided into sections on landscape, history, people, culture, and architecture, “China” explores many aspects of Chinese life through exquisite photography and imagery.

The imagery in “Landscape: China’s Horizons” is phenomenal, displaying panoramic views throughout China’s land. The photographs take the viewer on an epic journey to all corners of the land, offering not only the typical photographs of giant pandas scaling bamboo, and the scene from the Great Wall, but also landscapes that could just as easily be another continent.

From sweeping images of the arid deserts and “razorlike ridges” or rock formations that look like the American southwest, to the icy mountain lakes and glaciers that inhabit the high country to a few cityscape shots, photography lovers will not be disappointed.

The “People: A Day in the Life” section is also exceptionally rich, offering multi-page behind-the-scenes views of daily life for a cross-section of the Chinese population, including the life of: a monk, a schoolgirl, the head of a farming family, a cricket seller, a 23-year-old female entrepreneur, and a 60-year-old Chinese herbalist who fears that Chinese medicine will die out as the practitioners do.

While “China: People, Place, Culture, History” is not a pocket-sized book, it is a beautiful one to indulge in a love of daily life in foreign lands, a love of culture and history and, of course, photography.