Route 312 is the Chinese Route 66. It flows three thousand miles from east to west, passing through the factory towns of the coastal areas, through the rural heart of China, then up into the Gobi Desert, where it merges with the Old Silk Road. The highway witnesses every part of the social and economic revolution that is turning China upside down.
In this utterly surprising and deeply personal book, acclaimed National Public Radio reporter Rob Gifford, a fluent Mandarin speaker, takes the dramatic journey along Route 312 from its start in the boomtown of Shanghai to its end on the border with Kazakhstan. Gifford reveals the rich mosaic of modern Chinese life in all its contradictions, as he poses the crucial questions that all of us are asking about China: Will it really be the next global superpower? Is it as solid and as powerful as it looks from the outside? And who are the ordinary Chinese people, to whom the twenty-first century is supposed to belong?
Gifford is not alone on his journey. The largest migration in human history is taking place along highways such as Route 312, as tens of millions of people leave their homes in search of work. He sees signs of the booming urban economy everywhere, but he also uncovers many of the country's frailties, and some of the deep-seated problems that could derail China's rise.
The whole compelling adventure is told through the cast of colorful characters Gifford meets: garrulous talk-show hosts and ambitious yuppies, impoverished peasants and tragic prostitutes, cell-phone salesmen, AIDS patients, and Tibetan monks. He rides with members of a Shanghai jeep club, hitchhikes across the Gobi desert, and sings karaoke with migrant workers at truck stops along the way.
As he recounts his travels along Route 312, Rob Gifford gives a face to what has historically, for Westerners, been a faceless country and breathes life into a nation that is so often reduced to economic statistics. Finally, he sounds a warning that all is not well in the Chinese heartlands, that serious problems lie ahead, and that the future of the West has become inextricably linked with the fate of 1.3 billion Chinese people.
"Informative, delightful, and powerfully moving . . . Rob Gifford's acute powers of observation, his sense of humor and adventure, and his determination to explore the wrenching dilemmas of China's explosive development open readers' eyes and reward their minds.”
-Robert A. Kapp, president, U.S.-China Business Council, 1994-2004
Rob Gifford first went to China in 1987 as a twenty-year-old language student. He has spent much of the last twenty years studying and reporting there. From 1999 to 2005, he was the Beijing correspondent of National Public Radio, and he traveled all over China and the rest of Asia reporting for Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He is now NPR's London bureau chief.
Show moreRoute 312 is the Chinese Route 66. It flows three thousand miles from east to west, passing through the factory towns of the coastal areas, through the rural heart of China, then up into the Gobi Desert, where it merges with the Old Silk Road. The highway witnesses every part of the social and economic revolution that is turning China upside down.
In this utterly surprising and deeply personal book, acclaimed National Public Radio reporter Rob Gifford, a fluent Mandarin speaker, takes the dramatic journey along Route 312 from its start in the boomtown of Shanghai to its end on the border with Kazakhstan. Gifford reveals the rich mosaic of modern Chinese life in all its contradictions, as he poses the crucial questions that all of us are asking about China: Will it really be the next global superpower? Is it as solid and as powerful as it looks from the outside? And who are the ordinary Chinese people, to whom the twenty-first century is supposed to belong?
Gifford is not alone on his journey. The largest migration in human history is taking place along highways such as Route 312, as tens of millions of people leave their homes in search of work. He sees signs of the booming urban economy everywhere, but he also uncovers many of the country's frailties, and some of the deep-seated problems that could derail China's rise.
The whole compelling adventure is told through the cast of colorful characters Gifford meets: garrulous talk-show hosts and ambitious yuppies, impoverished peasants and tragic prostitutes, cell-phone salesmen, AIDS patients, and Tibetan monks. He rides with members of a Shanghai jeep club, hitchhikes across the Gobi desert, and sings karaoke with migrant workers at truck stops along the way.
As he recounts his travels along Route 312, Rob Gifford gives a face to what has historically, for Westerners, been a faceless country and breathes life into a nation that is so often reduced to economic statistics. Finally, he sounds a warning that all is not well in the Chinese heartlands, that serious problems lie ahead, and that the future of the West has become inextricably linked with the fate of 1.3 billion Chinese people.
"Informative, delightful, and powerfully moving . . . Rob Gifford's acute powers of observation, his sense of humor and adventure, and his determination to explore the wrenching dilemmas of China's explosive development open readers' eyes and reward their minds.”
-Robert A. Kapp, president, U.S.-China Business Council, 1994-2004
Rob Gifford first went to China in 1987 as a twenty-year-old language student. He has spent much of the last twenty years studying and reporting there. From 1999 to 2005, he was the Beijing correspondent of National Public Radio, and he traveled all over China and the rest of Asia reporting for Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He is now NPR's London bureau chief.
Show moreRob Gifford first went to China in 1987 as a twenty-year-old language student. He has spent much of the last twenty years studying and reporting there. From 1999 to 2005, he was the Beijing correspondent of National Public Radio, and he traveled all over China and the rest of Asia reporting for Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He is now NPR’s London bureau chief.
Advance praise for China Road
“How I envy Rob Gifford and his journey along China Road. How
grateful I am to him for allowing me to share the trip through his
vivid writing and his deep knowledge of and great love for China.
As vicarious enjoyment goes, this one’s a ten.”
–Ted Koppel, managing editor, Discovery Channel
“Rob Gifford has found the perfect road trip. His years in China
have given him a keen eye and a deep understanding of the country’s
contradictions; he’s the perfect guide to this magnificent road
from Shanghai to the Kazakhstan border.”
–Peter Hassler, author of River Town and Oracle Bones
“My gosh, I loved Rob Gifford’s book. His journey along Route 312
is a great road story–from Hooters in Shanghai to the Iron House of
Confucianism. China Road is insightful, funny, analytical,
anecdotal, full of humble humor and magnificent discoveries.”
–Scott Simon, host of NPR’s Weekend Edition and author of Pretty
Birds
“Here is China end to end, told from its equivalent of Route 66 as
Gifford journeys from Shanghai to the distant west, talking to
truck drivers, merchants, hermits, and whores. Gifford portrays
China with affection and humor, in all its complexity, energy,
hopefulness, and risk.”
–Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science,
Columbia University
“Equal parts Bill Bryson and Jonathan Spence. Gifford is great
company and great fun, and China Road is a terrific, highly
readable book.”
–Jim Yardley, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times Beijing
correspondent
“A great book, a terrific read. Rob Gifford’s story is as engaging
as any travel writing, but it is equally full of historical and
philosophical wisdom about the future of the world’s largest
country.”
–Joseph S. Nye, Jr., former assistant secretary of defense,
Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University
“After six years in Beijing, NPR’s Rob Gifford has written a
wonderfully reflective but also well-informed account of his road
trip across China. His knowledge and insight about China’s past and
present do a marvelous job in helping the reader understand all the
challenges that confront this very dynamic country’s future.”
–Orville Schell, director, the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China
Relations
Advance praise for China Road
"How I envy Rob Gifford and his journey along China Road. How
grateful I am to him for allowing me to share the trip through his
vivid writing and his deep knowledge of and great love for China.
As vicarious enjoyment goes, this one's a ten."
-Ted Koppel, managing editor, Discovery Channel
"Rob Gifford has found the perfect road trip. His years in China
have given him a keen eye and a deep understanding of the country's
contradictions; he's the perfect guide to this magnificent road
from Shanghai to the Kazakhstan border."
-Peter Hassler, author of River Town and Oracle
Bones
"My gosh, I loved Rob Gifford's book. His journey along Route 312
is a great road story-from Hooters in Shanghai to the Iron House of
Confucianism. China Road is insightful, funny, analytical,
anecdotal, full of humble humor and magnificent discoveries."
-Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition and author of
Pretty Birds
"Here is China end to end, told from its equivalent of Route 66 as
Gifford journeys from Shanghai to the distant west, talking to
truck drivers, merchants, hermits, and whores. Gifford portrays
China with affection and humor, in all its complexity, energy,
hopefulness, and risk."
-Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science,
Columbia University
"Equal parts Bill Bryson and Jonathan Spence. Gifford is great
company and great fun, and China Road is a terrific, highly
readable book."
-Jim Yardley, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times Beijing
correspondent
"A great book, a terrific read. Rob Gifford's story is as engaging
as any travel writing, but it is equally full of historical and
philosophical wisdom about the future of the world's largest
country."
-Joseph S. Nye, Jr., former assistant secretary of defense,
Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University
"After six years in Beijing, NPR's Rob Gifford has written a
wonderfully reflective but also well-informed account of his road
trip across China. His knowledge and insight about China's past and
present do a marvelous job in helping the reader understand all the
challenges that confront this very dynamic country's future."
-Orville Schell, director, the Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China
Relations
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