A Trip to China: Intermediate Reader of Modern Chinese (2 Volumes): Intermediate Reader of Modern Chinese

good pair of books, but could be more user friendly, covers wide range of subject matter, dirty toilets included,
nice pairing of trad and simplified characters, clear, but sometimes you come across a new character and the fun begins.
all in all, though, pretty comprehensive.

A good pair of books for self-study for those with some basic knowledge of Chinese. The combination of reader - grammar / vocab. volumes are written in a way that makes learning through progressive chapters a rewarding experience.
The paper quality is a problem, as such a book receives heavy use quickly, particularly the grammar / vocab.
The glossaries can be frustrating, particularly when trying to find words or grammar points known to be in the book, but not where. They are too often missing from the glossaries.
The peculiarly US point of view is a little off-putting for students not of that country. Discourse centred on Californian beef noodles leaves the student wondering what the relevance is, and why general language and examples could not be used for a book which could be / is an international standard.
Overall, the two volumes are a distinct asset to intermediate level students of Manadrin Chinese.

A Trip to China attempts to tackle issues a typical American college student would face when studying in China. This book pulls it's punches on big issues like democracy and unemployment but is long on social commentary on issues such as hygiene, privacy, and ethics. This book could do a better job introducing vocabulary seen in science, technology, medicine and sports and a little less on college and institution life. Additionaly the binding on these books is very poor. A strong point of these books is their currency (writen in '95) which beats just about everything else out there.

I used this book as a 2nd year college text. I found it to contain a large number of useful words and well grouped into subject based lessons. It provided good insights into some aspects of life in China that made those lessons more interesting. The lessons use pinyin pronunciation guide. The simplified and classical reader is useful for any student. Grammar explainations are adequate and with a fair number of expamples. The examples do occasionally use complicated characters not yet learned and are in simplified only. The one drawbck I found is the vocabulary and grammer guides are separated into the back of both books, a nuisance. Over all it is a good text, consistent, easy to read and has clearly printed characters. One of the more useful books I have used in 4 years of classes.