As title.
Iām just wondering if anyone see this book before.
This book published in 2001 has been widely discussed and reported recently, especially the cover of this book.
Iād just like to know what the information this book reveals and how itās meaningful for Taiwan.
Thanksā¦
Itās a guidebook for travellers. Ithas information about Taiwan, hotels, restaurants, travel and tourist highlights. You can easily find it in any big bookstore like Eslite.
Brian
Why has the cover ābeen widely discussedā?
Anyway, Lonely Planet has a pretty good website http://www.lonelyplanet.com Click on the āworld mapā then asia and Taiwan.
However, the website only gives background info, so itās not that useful for finding hotels and restaurants.
Is that the cover that has the red āfor rentā sign or something on the front of it?
I think the index in Lonely Planet Taiwan is poor, at least the edition I have. You look under museums and it says to look under individual museums. Well, if I know the name of all the museums already, then I doubt Iād be using Lonely Planet in the first placeā¦
Nah. Whatās it about ?
I have that book, 2001 editionā¦ The front is a collage of red handwritten signs, all in Chinese. Thereās a quote at the bottom: āOld world meets new economyā. Itās just like all the Lonely Planet books. It gives information about each city and tourist spot in Taiwan. It tells you about Taiwan as though you were going to visit Taiwan and lets you know about everything. It isnāt as in depth as I thought it would be, and it doesnāt let you know about working in Taiwan. But it tells you what to bring and what to do before you come. And it lets you know what to do once you are here. Also, it gives a bit of a history lesson. The authorās first job was as a monkeykeeper at a zoo. He wrote some books about teaching in Taiwan, and then he wrote the Lonely Planet guide. They must have liked him, because heās also written 12 other books for Lonely Planet.
Insight Guides also publish guides for Taiwan. IIRC the last one was published June, 2003. Anyone happen to have one of these?
yeah the book sucksā¦not to upto dateā¦esepecially in terms of night lifeā¦but than againā¦not too many guidebooks to choose from
Sorry, donāt agree. Donāt know about the nightlife; as pubs and clubs tend to change name/place/owner often it must be difficult to keep up to date.
But as a guide for visiting some great places around Taiwan itās unsurpassed. Of course it doesnāt have every good place, but it has a wide and varied selection.
It is still accurate to some extent on the earthquake damage; the Central Cross-Island Highway (north one from Guguan-Lishan) is still out.
I use it very often when planning days out and longer trips.
I wonder when theyāre planning on releasing the next edition though?
If you are looking for info on restaurants and night spots, have a look at http://www.taiwanfun.com
And/Or pick up one of their free magazines (they publish three - one for southern Taiwan, one for Taichung, and another for big bad Taipei). The magazines have bilingual pullout maps which I have found very useful.
Oh i think what the original poster was refering to is something that my girlfriend asked me about last week. Recently there has been an email going around Taiwan complaining about the Lonely Planet guide to Taiwan. Basically the jist of the complaint is that on all the other Lonely Planet books there are beautiful scenic pictures of whatever natural beauty that particular country has. However, Taiwanās guide has some books on it. I guess that they think that Taiwanās natural ābeautyā has been downplayed.
Hans
Nobody is ever happy about the Lonely Planet covers. There was a beautiful sleek blue cover for a recent HK edition, and everyone got their knickers in knots because it looked āpollutedā. Lose-lose situation. Itās hard to capture an entire country in one photograph, so they just go for some color or a feeling. I donāt think its so badā¦ Better than every cover showing the obvious landmarks.
They have different covers for each edition. The one I have is the edition before last, and itās got scenery. Not every LP has scenery.
Brian
The 2001 one version sucks big time. Itās inaccurate, some maps, especially the one for Kenting National Park are badly drawn and I am still pissed off that the first place listed in Taidong for budget hotels, a spot usually reserved for the bext places in other LP guides, is a nasty-ass roach trap. The prices were inaccurate, the restaurants listed in the small towns were crap and fortunately, I found where some better places were that werenāt listed in the guide. Is it normal for Lonely Planet guides to be largely outdated less than a year after being published like Lonely Planet Taiwan was? Honestly, they need to turn to forumosans for editing the book the next time around. It seems we know this island much better than Robert Storey. And if anyone sees that rat bastard around, ask him how his stay in the Amigo Hostel was.
As I said, Iāve found it for the most part reliable and useful. Itās still the only comprehensive English guidebook available. As I believe Robert Storey is a member of this community, perhaps he may at some point come on to comment on the book.
While I would also argue that the LP does better than any other book, and I noticed some much-needed additions to the last edition.
HOWEVER, that said, it would be interesting to find out how often they retrace their steps, and just how old the rest of the info is. I hardly believe that Mr. Storey does check-ups in person on ALL of the listings for each new printing.
Does anyone have a copy of the 4th or the 5th Edition of the Lonely Planet Guide for Taiwan? I think these after 2001. I would like help to get a screenshot of a page there
Need to check in the office on Monday. I have a few editions there, but not sure which ones.
I have a copy of the 5th editionāpublished in August 2001āin front of me. It was authored by the late Robert Storey, before forumosan emeritus @Mucha_Man began co-authoring subsequent editions. Some forumosans quite liked Storeyās style; I found this edition in particular to be extremely lazily researched. 
In any case, if you need a shot of a particular page, feel free to message me. Iāll do what I can to help.
Cheers,
Guy
While this thread is active, may I ask if any forumosans have come across the newest edition? Itās supposed to be published some time in October 2023.
EDIT: People who seem to be genuine reviewers so far appear to be deeply unhappy with the 2023 edition, calling a nearly useless travel log and photo laden affair with little to no practical information for travellers. It seems LP guides are undergoing a transition, and this transition is not being warmly received.
Guy