Word Of Caution For Travelers To China

Travellers entering China by road or rail across the southeastern border, particularly the Vietnamese frontier, report that Lonely Planet China guidebooks have been confiscated by border officials. This is due to sensitivity regarding maps of China that do not include Taiwan. Travellers should consider putting a cover on the book to make it less recognisable and just to be safe, copy down any crucial details you might need while in the country.

The Chinese government uses censorship extensively. Books or magazines mailed in are almost always delayed at customs and sometimes disappear. In particular, support for Tibetan or Taiwan independence is unacceptable. The movies Kundun and Seven Years in Tibet and publications written by or supporting the Dalai Lama are banned under this law.

Some historical books, such as those critical of the Cultural Revolution, are banned. These include Jung Chang's Wild Swans (perhaps the best introduction to recent Chinese history) and all the works of the only Chinese to win the Nobel Prize for literature, Gao Xingjian, who now lives in France.

Publications by the Knights of Columbus, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unification Church, and Seventh-Day Adventists may not be imported. Trying to bring in a banned book might get you stopped at the border, prevented from entering. If police notice one in the country, they would confiscate it and you might may face interrogation or even detention.

After that probably you would be deported and permanently banned from China. However, beware of getting Chinese friends into trouble; it might be much more serious for them.