Thanks to Peter N_H's postings, I am thinking of planning my own China trip for this November.

Can anyone rec. the best guide books for planning our first, 2 week China trip. We would like to see the highligts (Forbidden city, Xi'an warriors etc) but also would like to go off the beaten path a little seeing natural beauty etc.
Thanks!

The guidebooks I found most useful in planning my recent trip were the Rough Guide, Frommer's, and Eyewitness.

I use the picture guides - Eyewitness, Insight, etc to help decide where to go. They're way too heavy for me to take on the road. For China I'd add Lonely Planet, Rough Guide Fodors, Frommers, Bradt and/or Odyssey for more detailed planning. Then I'd take pieces of whichever seemed most useful with me.

I have bought various travel guide books since about 1997, including Lonely Planet, Fodor's, Rough Guide, Frommer's, and others for background information, to help me in deciding where I want to visit in China. I try to take only one or two when visiting China. Lonely Planet and Rough Guide, I have used the most frequently, when traveling outside of Beijing. A few years I bought "Insider's Guide to Beijing," intended primarily for foreigners living there, but is the best book I have about the city and surrounding attractions.

We use the lonely planet for all the planning of the trip and the Eyewitness guide for all the visits as it has floor guides and photos. We always buy our guides from ebay and usually pay a fraction of the price for new guides.

Thank to all. Will get the Eyewittness and Fodors (it got better reviews than Lonely Planet on Amazon)