Laurence Mackinreviews the latest travel books
Beijing Time
Michael Dutton, Hsiu-ju Stacy Lo and Dong Dong Wu
Harvard University Press, £17.95 in UK
Beijing is the Bohemian heart of China, home to the country's avant-garde artists. The city is economically booming, and, as in much of the rest of China, consumerism is whipping up a storm.
Pirated goods have flooded the market, leading to the creation of the "saw gash" generation: western record companies often ship their junk CDs to China, punching a small hole, or saw gash, in the CD.
However, Chinese consumers are willing to forgo hearing one track in exchange for a cheap CD.
Beijing Timeis an exhaustive, modern portrayal of a city and its people, written with flair from the belly of the Beijing dragon. As China scrubs away the history of the Cultural Revolution and repaints the city in capitalist strokes, old Beijing is being replaced by a more tourism-oriented version.
Meanwhile, the city's architects try to combine modern demands with ancient dictums to ensure the harmonious flow of qi, or spirit.
This is a vividly textured account of a city in transition.
Shanghai City Guide
Lonely Planet, £12.99 in UK
If Beijing is trying to retain a vestige of its history, Shanghai has no such pretensions.
It is hurling itself into the future, a brash sprawling mass of glass and steel, closer in spirit to the commercial Mecca of Hong Kong than the sensitive soul of Beijing.
There are still traces of the old city here, but you'll have to work harder to hunt them down amid the hip bars and restaurants.
This concise guide should help you survive the sheer intensity of this soaring city.
lmackin@irish-times.ie