Qinghai means "blue lake,"and indeed the name of the provincecomes from the pristine waters of the vast Qinghai Lake high on theplateau - the "roof of the world." Three great rivers rise inQinghai: the Yellow River and the Yangtze River nurtured dazzlingChinese civilizations that sprang up along their valleys; theLancang River starts here too irrigating first Tibet and Yunnan,before flowing through Southeast Asia as the Mekong. Historically remote, but not isolated, both the southern route ofthe Silk Road and the Tang Tubo Road linking the Tang emperors inChang an and the ubokings in Lhasa made their way through the heartof Qinghai. In the gentle embrace of Sanjiangyuan - the Great Source of ThreeRivers - are vast grasslands, rippling snow mountains, the devoutpilgrims,sacred living creatures….

As anyone who has spent time on the road knows, you often haveto depend on signs...to navigate through a town, locate your hotel,even obey the law - a scary thought if you've ever come across anyof the publicly posted absurdities that appear in this book. Signsabout as easy to understand as a Swahili auctioneer (to anon-Swahili speaker) or as well-planned as the dance steps in amosh pit with the help of signspotters around the globe, we'veassembled a collection of some of the most unintentionallyentertaining postings on the planet - we hope they confuse andamuse you!

Explores Indian English's history and its place in society.Full of humorous and quirky expressions, slang, jargon and commonlanguage misunderstandings. Will help travelers speak like localswith Hinglish terms for food, sports and entertainment

How's the craic? No worries! Chavtastic! Lonely Planet'sLanguage Culture series introduces English as spoken indifferent parts of the world by showing the culture and humourbehind common (and not so common) expressions and providingpointers on how to avoid common misunderstandings. Included in Australian is an Aboriginal section and a guide toAustralian humour.

Thirteen centuries of history, Byzantium beyond Eastern Bloc,this gateway between East and West offers so much more. For beachesand banitsa , culture and kashkaval , raise a rakia to diverse Bulgaria. This phrasebook will guide youalong the way. Our phrasebooks give you a comprehensive mix of practical andsocial words and phrases in more than 120 countries. Chat with thelocals and discover their culture - a guaranteed way to enrich yourtravel experience.

Lost at a train station? To buy a ticket, turn to page 40. Tofind a hotel, go to 55. Hot day, blue sky? To hit the beach, turnto page 141. To meet a local, open page 93. Take this phrasebookand choose your own adventure! Our phrasebooks give you acomprehensive mix of practical and social words and phrases in morethan 120 languages. Chat with the locals and discover their culture- a guaranteed way to enrich your travel experience.

Stepping out onto the Barkhor circuit, you're sweptalong by a sea of chanting pilgrims. You go with the flow as theprocession winds its way clockwise. You peer beyond the swirlingprayer flags - is that the Jamkhang you can see? This pocketcompanion is full of phrases to help you out in any situation - notjust discovering Buddhist temples. You'll be talking your wayaround Tibet in now time.Our phrasebooks give you a comprehensivemix of practical and social words and phrases in more than 120languages. Chat with the locals and discover their culture - aguaranteed way to enrich your travel experience.

Moon Spotlight Wisconsin’s Door County is a 95-pagecompact guide covering Sturgeon Bay, Lakeside, Bayside, WashingtonIsland and Rock Island. Author Thomas Huhti offers seasoned adviceon must-see attractions, and he includes maps with sightseeinghighlights so you can make the most of your time.. This lightweightguide is packed with recommendations on sights, entertainment,shopping, recreation, accommodations, food, and transportation.Helpful maps make navigating this popular vacation getawayuncomplicated and enjoyable.

ohio was the first midwestern state,carved out of the northwest erritory after the u.s.was born.in some ways ohio is the most quintessentially american state:nt distinctly north,south,east,orwest but a bit of each;notstrictly farm or industri-al,small-town or urban,but equally all of them.ohio has the industriousness and cultural polish of the northern and eastern states ,the south s pro-found respect for tradition,and the restless energy that blazed trails across the western frontier.this might explain why eight ohioans have been elect-ed u.s.president-people from all over the coun-try can see something of the mselves in aleader from ohio. ohio doesn t have one great urban metropolis like chicago or new york;instead it has seven major cities.towns grew up along the rivers,canals,rail linesand roads.thanks to its abundant resources and the fortunes of geography,ohio was destined to become an industrial powerhouse.steel nd rubber might come to mind first,but state industries have ranged from cars to cerami

Packed with phrases on everything from bargaining at a rynok to hiking and eating out, this book will spice up yourUkrainian adventure. Whether bathing in culture or the Black Sea,speak the language and make your experiences unique. Our phrasebooks give you a comprehensive mix ofpractical and social words and phrases in more than 120 languages.Chat with the locals and discover their culture - a guaranteed wayto enrich your travel experience.

illinois,that long slice of the heartland stretching fro lake michigan fto kentucky,may be the most american place of all.its great patriot,abraham lincoln,and its great athlete,michael jordan,stand for what s best about our country. the prairie state has some of the midwest s richest farmlnd,and,by geographic luck,illinors also has the vital metropolis of chicago.the windy city took in the continent s resources and shipped them far and wide ,becoming the nation s railroad hub and later its crossroade of the air.after the dev-astating 1871fire,visionary planners and architects like daniel burnham and louis sullivan designed boulevards,gracious parks,and beaux arts buildings thet make this one of the most livable of cities. both chicago and downstate illinois have grow them,like john dere s plow; the prairie style homes of frank lloyd wright;mail-order merchandising from sears and wards;an ener-getic,all-american literture from carl sandburg,nelson algren,gwendolyn brooks,and saul bellow;and the soulf

In 1977, Laura Bell, at loose ends after graduating fromcollege, leaves her family home in Kentucky for a wild andunexpected adventure: herding sheep in Wyoming’s Big Horn Basin.Inexorably drawn to this life of solitude and physical toil, ayoung woman in a man’s world, she is perhaps the strangest memberof this beguiling community of drunks and eccentrics. So begins herunabating search for a place to belong and for the raw materialswith which to create a home and family of her own. Yet only throughtime and distance does she acquire the wisdom that allows her tosee the love she lived through and sometimes left behind. By turns cattle rancher, forest ranger, outfitter, masseuse, wifeand mother, Bell vividly recounts her struggle to find solid earthin which to put down roots. Brimming with careful insight andwritten in a spare, radiant prose, her story is a heart-wrenchingode to the rough, enormous beauty of the Western landscape and thepeculiar sweetness of hard labor, to finding oneself even i

Bejaysus and begorrah! The next best thing for anyonenot blessed with the gift of gab - a grand tour through thelanguage, lilt and laughter of Ireland old and new. So joint in thecraic, forget the Blarney Stone, and wrap your tongue aroundEnglish the way the Irish reinvented it. Features special sectionon Irish Gaelic. Lonely Planet's English Language Culture series goesbehind the scenes of languages you thought you knew. Get into theculture and humour behind common - and not so common - Englishexpressions and learn about the local languages that inspiredthem.

In the entire universe, there seems to be one constant that most everyone shares: the notion of beauty. This fact is not scientific, it is not logical, and the value of this knowledge is hard to assess. But the certainty is absolute as every one of us looks into a meadow of waving flowers, gazes at the surf and the sea, or looks deep into the night sky at the stars and beyond. God's Art explores the grace, the texture and the colors of this beautiful universe, and asks a lot of questions along the way: Why isn't the universe gray instead of such a rich incredible range of colors; Why is there so much variety in all things from snowflakes to galaxies; Why are we blessed with an appreciation for all this wonder if it does not contribute to our survival? Questions are more fun than answers, and a well-phrased quandary will keep us occupied longer than a stark fact. This is a beautifully illustrated book of questions.

Take the guesswork out cultivating a gorgeous Northwest garden with this friendly, informative guide.Organized into easily accessible chapters ranging from Top 10 Perennials to Top 10 Edibles-with Top 10 guides for annuals, shrubs, bulbs, roses, and more in between-it offers novice and seasoned gardeners alike a comprehensive guide to planning and maintaining a thriving garden in the Northwest. Includes an introduction by Sunset magazine's NW Bureau Chief Steve Lorton plus contributions from well-known Northwest celebrity gardeners.

“oklahoma,where the wind comes sweepin down the plain!”who doesn t know the stirring lyrics to the most famous of all state songs?rodgers &hammerstein s musical captures the rambunctious frontier spirit of this state-an even more captivating place in reality. in oklahoma,the american west and the american dream come together-sometimes in one person,like will rogers,the part-cheokeejournalist and vaudevillian who became the nation s best-loved humorist.woody guthrie,our lureate of folk song,also springs from oklahoma soil,as do journalist bill moyers and apache sculptor allan houser,whose work graces the white house lawn.oklahoma helped to create the cowboy icon:on the legendary chisholm trail,in touring wild west shows ,and in the movies ,with actors roy rogers and gene auty.amerca s oil boom began her,and “black gold”built the art deco skylines of tulsa and okla-homa city.hardy survivors of the dust bowl era,oklahomans planned and built the “mother road,”route 66,and afine collection of museu

Moon Spotlight Detroit Ann Arbor is a 78-pagecompact guide covering the best of Southern Michigan, includingDetroit's treasured Belle Isle and one-of-a-kind The Henry Ford,the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and the W.K. Kellogg BirdSanctuary, one of America's pioneer wildlife conservation centers.Author Laura Martone offers seasoned advice on must-seeattractions, and includes maps with sightseeing highlights so youcan make the most of your time. This lightweight guide is packedwith recommendations on sights, entertainment, shopping,recreations, accommodations, food, and transportation, as well aseasy-to-read maps, making navigating these diverse areasuncomplicated and enjoyable.

The only state once recognized by the U.S.gov-ernment as an independent country.Texas is still more a nation than a state in many ways.It's larg-er than several European nations combined,with an amaxingly varied landscape and population. Since the fall of the Alamo,the Lone Star State has been the site of historic collisions:between the Old South and the New West,be-tween the Anglo culture of North America and the Hispanic culture of Latin America,between persistent small-town values and the glittering internationalism of Houston and Dallas.Yet its citizens are all Texans first,united by a storied past of epic battles,rangers and rustlers,cattle barons,wildcatters,and wheeler-dealers. The Texas Myth also embraces legendary sports teams and the fans that cheer them on; a down-home cuisine featuring Tex-Mex,chili,and rancn-style barbecue; and colorful politics across the spectrum,including outspoken liberals like Lyndon Johnson and former governor Ann Richards.Oil and cattle wealth built a legacy of ach

When time is short, Fast Talk French gives you the essentiallanguage to: do the sights shop till you drop...book a room order a meal...get from A to B...clinch that crucialdeal...get your message across. Includes easy pronunciation of allwords and phrases plus a mini dictionary of key words. LonelyPlanet's Fast Talk series provides you with all the basics for ashort trip or weekend away in a practical pocket-sized format,making sure your stay is fun, easy and hassle free.

This book includes a chapter detailing Shanghai's history and culture, 11 tours and excursions taking in sights ranging from the Bund promenade to lush Hangzhou, leisure-time suggestions, and a comprehensive information section packed with essential contact addresses and numbers. Plus top-notch photographs and maps.

The Appalachian Trail trail stretches from Georgia to Maine andcovers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America–majesticmountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to takea hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surelythe most entertaing guide you’ll find. He introduces us to thehistory and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (orjust foolhardy) folks he meets along the way–and a couple of bears.Already a classic, A Walk in the Woods will make you longfor the great outdoors (or at least a comfortable chair to sit andread in).