Product Description

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93525 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-29
• Released on: 2007-05-29
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

From AudioFile
Want to learn more about a country that will increasingly impact our lives for years to come? Ride along with Gifford as he travels from Shanghai to Kazakhstan on Chinas longest road. Youll think its the writer himself talking--so closely does Simon Vance approximate his age, British nationality, and dexterity with the Chinese language. He helps make you see the vibrant modernity of Shanghai and the beauty of the Gobi Desert, the pollution, cookie-cutter factories, and ubiquitous karaoke bars and enlivens conversations with construction workers, bus passengers, and population control personnel. At the end of this valuable listening experience, Gifford predicts Chinas chances of making it as a major power. J.B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, AudioFile Best Audiobook of 2007 © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
National Public Radio China correspondent Gifford journeyed for six weeks on China's Mother Road, Route 312, from its beginning in Shanghai for nearly 3,000 miles to a tiny town in what used to be known as Turkestan. The route picks up the old Silk Road, which runs through the Gobi Desert to Central Asia to Persia and on to Europe. Along the way, Gifford meets entrepreneurs hoping to cash in on China's growing economy, citizens angry and frustrated with government corruption, older people alarmed at changes in Chinese culture and morality, and young people uncertain and excited about the future. Gifford profiles ordinary Chinese people coping with tumultuous change as development and commerce shrink a vast geography, bringing teeming cities and tiny towns into closer commercial and cultural proximity; the lure of wealth is changing the Chinese character and sense of shared experience, even if it was common poverty. Gifford notes an aggressive sense of competition in the man-eat-man atmosphere of a nation that is likely to be the next global superpower. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
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

Customer Reviews

Audio version of "China Road" combines best aspects of memoir, news reporting
Some of the most compelling nonfiction
audiobooks produced for American listeners
today are about China. They tend to fit into two
categories -- the personal memoir, such as Peter
Hessler's "River Town: Two Years on the
Yangtze," and the fact-driven, such as Ted
Fishman's "China Inc." Both of these are
excellent works filled with fascinating nuggets
for anyone with an interest in China. But one
audiobook that outdoes them both is Rob
Gifford's "China Road" (Blackstone, 9 CDs,
2007), which combines the best aspects of
memoir and news reporting. I liked it so much
that I listened to it twice, a few months apart.

Before writing the book, Gifford had been
visiting China for 20 years and working there for
six years as a journalist. Planning to leave China
for Europe, he decided to make one long last
journey, a two-month trip of 3000 miles from
east to west along China's route 312, the
"people's road." He did it the slow way, by
hitchhiking on trucks, taking local trains, and
sometimes hiring a driver. With his fluent
Mandarin and his in-depth knowledge of Chinese
laws, customs, history and geography, he
becomes an imbedded observer who reports
accurately and thoroughly, but always with a
touch of humor.

As he quickly points out, China is not a country
but an empire. It encompasses one-fifth of
humanity, with a multitude of ethnic groups and
languages. Because the setting changes so
frequently throughout the journey, you could
listen to the CDs in any order without losing
much. Gifford says there's hardly anything about
China that isn't interesting, then proves it. He
meets enthusiastic and successful Amway sales
reps in the middle of the Gobi Desert. He sees a
truck broken down by the side of the road, but
his driver keeps going because of "the first rule
in China: don't get involved." Horse races are
popular but betting is illegal. No problem: you
can place your money on a "guess." Cell phone
salesmen do a thriving business all along the old
Silk Road route because there's perfect reception,
and everyone wants a phone.

China, says Gifford, is 30 years behind the U.S.
militarily; it spends $50 billion a year compared
to $400 billion. But far more significant, he says,
is the speedy change that is shaking up Chinese
society. Up to 200 million Chinese have left their
home towns in search of a better life -- the
largest migration in history. The greatest danger
to China's future, he believes, is pollution: of the
world's 20 most polluted cities, 16 are in China.
There's a chronic water shortage, and many of
China's rivers are dangerously contaminated.

Other negatives: Chinese women have the highest
suicide rate in the world; it's the leading cause of
death for Chinese women age 18 to 34. There is
an AIDS crisis, especially in Hunan province,
stemming from the extraction and sale of blood.
But the authorities simply try to cover it up. The
whole society, according to Gifford, is shot
through with corruption, which comes from local
officials, not big politicians. For example, trucks
are often stopped for speeding, but the fines can
range widely, so that police officers can pocket
most of the money without needing to report it.

The author says that China cannot be both an
empire and a democracy. That might explain
some of the contradictions that he confronts by
questioning his subjects to the point of
discomfort. He interviews a woman who
performs abortions on other women who are eight
months pregnant, and asks how she can reconcile
her role as a mother and a health professional by
killing fully formed babies. He interviews a
young Tibetan whose parents forced him to grow
up speaking only Mandarin at home in order to
improve his job prospects. He now teaches
Chinese to Tibetans, and the author probes to
find how the man feels about aiding the
conquerors.

Near the end of his journey, Gifford lands in
Urumchi, a very modern, high-tech capital, which
is farther from the ocean than any other city in
the world. A century ago, it took 45 days for a
letter to get from there to Beijing, and that was
considered fast. In the last 15 years, its
population has grown from 300,000 to 1.5 million
in 15 years. He marvels that it is almost
unrecognizable from the city he had seen only a
short time before. It's located in Xinjiang,
China's fastest-growing region for foreign trade.

Gifford's trip, and route 312, end in Korgaz, a
forlorn little town across the border from
Kazakhstan. Like the author, I didn't want the
road to end.

A "Seize The Moment" View Of An Evolving China
Rob Gifford manages to capture the rapid change and flux--in conflict and concert with the past--that characterizes 21st century China as he travels Route 312 from the metropolis of Shanghai to the remote town of Korgaz, at the border crossing to Kazakhstan. Joining Rob on his "seize the moment" itinerary, the reader is given an intimate "backpack" view of a China and its people that is unforgettable, and in many cases irreconcilable with the image China portrays as a superpower . Through his vivid narration, the sights, sounds, smells, hopes, dreams and shadows of life for "Old Hundred Names" come alive in the consciousness of the reader. It was a transformative read.

A Brilliant View into Current and Historical China
I have listened to the audio book of China Road while traveling back and forth between Ashland, OR and San Francisco. Rod Gifford does a magnificent job of weaving his present day experiences of traveling on China's "Mother Road", Route 312, the history of China and its many phases, and a view to the future and what may come next for this complex country. This should be required reading/listening for high school students. If you want a quick and broad view into the realities of this multifaceted country, China Road is it!