China Smart: What You Don’t Know, What You Need to Know – A Past & Present Guide to History, Culture, Society, Language

China Smart is a fun guidebook for learning about China. Larry Herzberg, the author of the book packs a wealth of information in tiny easy to digest tidbits in around two hundred and fifty pages. He covers everything from history and politics to culture and everyday life and does it in a very succinct and easy to understand format. For example, what Americans know about Chinese food and Chinese restaurants is not really food they eat in China. Rather, the food is an amalgamation of Chinese and American cuisines that are more suitable for the American palate. In reality, though, Chinese food is extremely diverse ranging from very mild to very bitter and everything in between.

I enjoyed reading China Smart. I knew some things about China before reading the book, but I came away knowing a whole lot more. Larry Herzberg’s book will be an invaluable resource for travelers to China as well as those who want to learn more about the country in a succinct format without having the need to page through dry and dense history tomes. With the book’s easy and concise tone, it will appeal to any age group. I would definitely recommend anybody to read China Smart by Larry Herzberg.