laptop & guidebook?

[leosmith]

I'm going to travel to China for about 3 weeks in August. Will there be any problem bringing a laptop? And I heard they sometimes confiscate Lonely Planet guidebooks due to the maps showing Taiwan as a different country. Is that true?

Thanks.

[Senzhi]

Absolutely no problems bringing in a laptop, except that they might ask you to get it out of it's case and boot it at an airport security check .... as at any airport in the world. The booting is just a check to see that your laptop is really wired as a laptop inside and not as a hazard.

In a very extreme case, they might ask you to put the battery as luggage and not as hand luggage. But this is very rare.

I find the stories about books, CD's, DVD's etc. being confiscated extremely exaggerated. If the stuff is legal (and no copies) you shouldn't have any problems at all. In fact, good chances are you can buy the same edition here ...

[roddy]

There have been repeated reports of Lonely Planets being confiscated at a (the) land crossing from Vietnam, but nowhere else that I've heard of. If you are coming through Beijing and Hong Kong the chances of being even glanced at are slim.

[koreth]

I went to China and not only brought a guidebook that says Taiwan is a separate country, but also a Taiwanese person who says the same thing. They didn't confiscate either one!

[stickyrice]

Just met an English couple over the May holiday who came in via the Vietnam border and had their LP confiscated.

[leosmith]

Whew. Thanks everyone. I'm coming through Beijing, so I should be ok. I haven't actually bought a guidebook yet. I normally get LP, but does anyone prefer something else?

[onebir]

I normally get LP, but does anyone prefer something else?

If you're (mainly) staying in Beijing, someone's been recommending the That's Beijing guidebook.

If not, for 3 weeks you hardly need a guidebook for all of China & it's a lot of excess weight. Maybe you could just photocopy the relevant towns/provinces from a library copy. Don't worry too much if it's not the latest edition - LP often seems to be wildly wrong ;-)

[imron]

They also have LP just for Beijing (it's much smaller than the LP China), but like Onebir mentioned, the "that's beijing" guide is also pretty good. It's called The Insider's Guide to Beijing, and you can read more about it here.

[william]

I have traveled to china for three months.I can say I have no disconvenience in china .Nomally they only check my laptop bag simply.

[md1101]

yeah should be fine. i travelled around china with laptop and lp book no problems.

maybe you should try a different book though seeing as EVERYONE uses lonely planet. i like to think im special travelling around the place then i get into a youth hostel and see everyone holding their lonely planet bible close to them and i realise im just another backpacker. get a different book to make yourself feel special