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: #118184 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-29
• Released on: 2007-05-29
• Original language: English
• 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

True through not flattering picture of China
The author has painted a sympathetic picture of China, more realistic of the existent problems facing billions of Chinese people, instead of sticking to the useless ideological issues like social system, etc. The book tells readers the best things that the government has done regarding human rights is to make sure billions of people are free from cold and starvation. People do not need empty talks about freedom and democracy when their stomaches are empty and they do not have enough clothes against cold weather.

Great book!

Great balanced of view on China
A must read during these times when China is in the news every day. The best balanced view of what is going on there.

China 101: If You Don't Know Much About China This Gets You Started!
I was initially intrigued with the China "road trip" concept that is the backbone ofthe book. The narrative about the trip was fantastic. You are drawn into the sights and sounds of places far removed from Shanghai and Beijing and his interactions with real Chinese people from throughout the country and very insightful.

Mr. Gifford does a great job of explaining why things might be the way they are in China based on historical and cultural reasons. If you don't know much about key pieces of Chinese history not only does he provide background information, but links it to understanding China today.

I was completely naive as to some of China's practices regarding their one child policy and found this very disturbing. This and the corruption that runs rampant throughout the country is very troubling in terms of quality of life for Chinese people. You come to empathize with their situation and perhaps gain a better understanding as to why they are as determined as they are for economic growth.

Five stars for both a great journey and an informative look at where China is today, why it is the way it is, and some interesting perspectives on what the future may hold. Read it!!