As a sidebar to this month's Chinese Buffet series, throughout August, One for the Road will highlight travel guides, reference books and other recommended reads related to life or travel in China.

One of guides I used frequently during my week in the 'jing was DK Eyewitness Travel's Top 10 Beijing, a new title in their popular series that was released in Spring 2007. I've never really used DK guides before but decided to bring this one along since it wouldn't take up much room. I also usually steer clear of glossy guidebooks with lots of photos, as they can often lack the detailed content I'm looking for in a travel guide. But if you have done your detailed research ahead of time with the heftier guides, this might be the best traveling companion to throw in your pack. It's a slim and sleek overview to the city, loaded with practical and useful content.

Because of its compact size, I carried the Top 10 Beijing with me almost very day. The "Around Town" section was most useful to me -- there are six suggested walks for different sections of the city, and although I didn't follow any of them exactly, each served as a handy reference tool when mapping out daily itineraries. In addition to DK's featured ten must-see Beijing sights (I only visited six of their top suggestions) there are a variety of other creative top ten lists throughout the book -- things like music bars, parks, socialist monuments, Chinese movies, teahouses, galleries and street food. The 128-page guide also includes decent mini flip-out maps in the front and rear covers. It's definitely a guide to consider, especially if you'll only have limited time in the city.

Filed under: Asia, China, Books, One for the Road, Chinese Buffet