Title: Just read a good Beijing travel book.
Product review: I was so disappointed. The problems with Flower Net far outweigh its one virtue: keen observation of life in Beijing. The characters are flat. As for the plot -- one or two things happen, but by the time any resolution is reached, you truly, madly and deeply do not care. Several reviewers have said the main character Liu Hulan is well-drawn. This is true if you find remote, implacable people with good hair compelling. She's all backstory and no zip. There are nonfiction guidebooks (see Lonely Planet) that bring Beijing to life far more successfully. I wish I'd plunked down my big bucks for those.
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