China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power

Written by Rob Gifford

Narrated by Simon Vance

National Public Radio’s Beijing correspondent Rob Gifford recounts his travels along Route 312, the Chinese Mother Road, the longest route in the world’s most populous nation. Based on his successful NPR radio series, China Road draws on Gifford’s twenty years of observing firsthand this rapidly transforming country, as he travels east to west, from Shanghai to China’s border with Kazakhstan. As he takes the reader on this journey, he will also take us through China’s past and present while he tries to make sense of this complex nation’s potential future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
• Release date: Jan 1, 2006
• ISBN: 9781481582063

Rob Gifford

Rob Gifford first went to China in 1987 as a twenty-year-old undergraduate, to study the language. A fluent Mandarin speaker and former BBC producer, he has spent twenty years studying, visiting and reporting on China. From 1999 to 2005 he was Beijing correspondent for the US network, National Public Radio. During that time he travelled all over China, from Tibet to the Russian border, and from the Muslim northwest to North Korea. He is now NPR's London bureau chief.

Reviews for China Road

[joeydag · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I swear I read this but I can't remember much beyond an incident where the author is passing through some quite remote region on quite a ramshackle vehicle.

[jrgoetziii · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent read, takes you through China from its eastern coast to its western frontier and provides a lot of insight into how all ranks of Chinese citizens--from truckers and farmers to karaoke ladies/hookers to businessmen and students, from Atheists to Christians, from Han Chinese to Muslim Uighurs, and so on and so forth--view the current state of China, in particular as it relates to its recent and humiliating past and what it portends for the visible future. Explains a lot of China's history and political institutions, not only since Mao's "conquest" in 1949 but as far back as 300 BC. Tremendous depth and range here.

[dogrover · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rather than trying to capture all of China, Gifford takes us along on a guided road-trip; a backpack-toting, hostel-sleeping, diesel-driving, 3000 mile journey through modern China. It is, by his account, a nation divided: obsessed with a future improbable enough to be terrifying, and bound by a past whose release could be fatal.This is not a scholarly work (though there are some elements of that), but a personal account of the lives of real people: a roomful of villagers infected with AIDS by bad government policy, a cell-phone carrying hermit who meditates alone on mount Hua Shan, an Amway salesman who is beginning to see his dreams become real, a school teacher who helps children from his own nation give up their heritage to become Chinese (their best chance at success). None of these stories are in-depth enough to be completely satisfying their own, but taken together they paint a picture of present-day China, in all its industrious complexity and contradiction. Just as when you walk by a fence and build a picture of the backyard from a series of tiny slices, we get a taste of many different lives in such brief duration and rapid succession that a shape, at least, begins to form. China rushes forward with big-city dreams and peasant feet. No matter what happens there over the next twenty years, the rest of the world will feel it.

[stbalbach_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

China Road (2007) is a remarkably insightful travel memoir. As Gifford traveled the length of National Road 312 from east to west, he compares it to American Route 66 of the early 20th century, where migrants traveled to the promises of California. In China's case it's Shanghai. Unlike many travel writers, Gifford didn't helicopter in for a 14-day trip for the purpose of writing a book, rather he studied China in school, speaks the language, and lived there for 6 years as a reporter, his insights are deep and well informed from experience.

China is so vast it is hard to contemplate. As I zoomed in with a gods-eyed view using Google Earth, following Gifford's trek along Route 312, I saw how every square mile of China is densely populated, an ocean of peasants and farmland. Referring to it as a country in the way we speak of Mexico or England is deceiving, it has more people than all of the 40+ countries in Europe PLUS all the countries in South America combined. In terms of people it is a large continent, yet operates as a single nation. In the end Gifford has a somewhat pessimistic view about China's future. The next 10-20 years will be key as a new generation born post-1960 take charge. Will they be able to maintain growth (peace) while allowing for more individual freedom, all the while holding a vast population together as a single nation? There are many contradictions. China Road is a great book on many levels and highly recommend, in particular in combination with Google Earth, both of which have totally changed my perceptions about China, although as Gifford says, anyone who says they understand China does not understand China - it is a dynamic place that constantly rewards new study and learning.

[debnance_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Last year I traveled the Silk Road, the ancient road that cuts through China. This year, it’s my opportunity to travel down China Road, Route 312, a new superhighway through modern China. Modern China, I have found, is a mass of dangerous contradictions. For one, China is an economic superpower that continues to be ruled by a despotism that severely limits individual freedom but turns a blind eye to industrial pollution and the basic human rights of workers. The Chinese people are unhappy with this situation but nothing is done. The Chinese character seems built on acceptance of the world as unjust place; on fortitude, plugging on as best one can; on putting on a polite face, ignoring problems and speaking banal platitudes about life. A second enormous contradiction is that communism requires strict compliance to the rules imposed on the society and a citizenry kept ignorant but the modern world, especially the modern world market, necessitates an educated citizenry. These contradictions cannot continue. This cannot go on, the author writes, and yet it must, for the sake of a strong global economy.And China has other, terrible problems the world knows little about. Because of the one-child policy, thousands of baby girls were aborted or killed, leaving a stark shortage of wives for the baby boys who were allowed to live and grow up. Pollution of both water and air is a terrible threat to China’s immediate future. Rural poverty is slowly creating an enormous sense of injustice in the people living in the country. Many centuries of totalitarian government both from the inside and the outside have left China far behind the world, especially in technology. The trip down China Road was no getaway vacation for me.

[bas615 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

China is a place of amazing complexity and contradictions and this book helped to get a grasp on some of those complexities. The emergence of China on the global scene makes it imperative that we seek to learn more about the people and their rise. While Gifford has not written an overarching summary of all that is China, he has taken a journey to uncover a few motifs that can be found in this dynamic country.

The book serves a great starting place for an investigation of this vast place. Gifford has spent a great deal of time in the country and observed many fascinating characteristics. Whether it is the popularity of karaoke bars or the lack of homogeneous culture that much of the Western world assumes exists in China, this book left me with a much better grasp of what is going on. No book can encompass all that is happening in China at this moment, and this book does not attempt to. Rather he seeks to pick out a few juicy morsels that he feels are enlightening of the whole.

I will not think about China the same after reading this book. The problems faced by the Uighers and the Tibetans are worrying at the same time that the vast economic growth is immensely compelling. Gifford worries about the ability to sustain this growth and particularly worries about the historical difficulty of keeping this huge country together. Only time will tell but these are issues we need to tackle to prepare ourselves for whatever comes in the future.

[techszewski · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was the perfect book to bring along on my trip out to Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. While I traveled a much different route than the author, I thought about a lot of the same issues he discussed with the people he met. I had planned to do a big loop from Shanghai to western China, maybe Tibet, then take the train back through the parts Gifford went through. But my bag got to heavy with souvenirs, so I cut my trip short and flew back Shanghai. I live in Shanghai and am sheltered from most of the issues he explores, but they are always on my mind as the city changes each week. The one issue that stands out for me is the one-child policy and the horrific details of how its enforced. This is when I'm reminded that this is still communist China. I really enjoyed how the author gave a concise historical perspective on China's development and offered his predictions on its future. Being in China for probably a little longer than I expect, I'll get to see how accurate he is.

[redmaple_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

China Road starts with the author reminiscing about his and his wife's first meeting on the banks of the Bund in Shanghai. From there he takes us on a powerful road journey from the intense, highway-circled, skyscraper-capped City of Shanghai to a tiny town in central Asia in what used to be called Turkestan. He takes route 312 the whole way. Route 312 sometimes exists just as a dirt road; out west the Chinese built it into a six lane highway.

Gifford's interactions with locals throughout the journey are fascinating. He rides with truck drivers, visits villages destroyed by HIV, sleeps in the desert with Tibetans fluent in Mandarin wanting to teach Chinese in public schools (at the risk of destroying their own language and culture), and mingles with Chinese tourists and Amway distributors in Urumqi. Throughout the book I was fascinated by China's vast span of land and huge cities: the U.S. has nine cities with over one million people; China has forty-nine!

This was the first book that introduced me to western China and now I'm overcome with curiosity about the region. 9-1-09

[marient_5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Route 312 ifis 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 utterrly surprising, deeply personal book, acclaimed NPR reposter Rob Gifford, a fluent Mandarin speaker, takes the dramatic journey along Rte 312 from its start in the boomtown of Shanghai to its end on the border with Kazakhstan.

[booksmartfool · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

NPR Correspondent's road trip on China's route 66 is illuminating for the western reader, given our lack of exposure to China's long history and civilization. Gifford masterfully combines enough imformation about China's past to give an understanding of the extensive migration and rapid industrialization that has catapulted the sleeping giant into a major economic power. The narrative of his journey weaves interviews with ordinary citizens, from truckdrivers to the new yuppie elite becoming Communist party stalwarts, with descriptions of local culture and place, such as karoke bars and AIDS afflicted farming villages, leaving a stunning array of vistas and perspectives for the reader's contemplation. Eye-opening!

[niecierpek · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A travelogue from the journey Robert Gifford made along Route 312- sort of Chinese Route 66- from Shanghai to Kazakhstan’s border, chronicling the changes the post Mao communist regime and globalization have brought to the country. He made the trip east to west and through the Gobi desert along the former Silk Road the way any local could do- mostly by bus, hailed truck, carpooling with others, or by taxi. On the way, he spoke to ordinary people he met: truck drivers, restaurant owners, fellow bus passengers, all of them as he says, sometimes able to explain the social phenomena better than many scholars and political analysts. It helps that Gifford speaks fluent Mandarin, and has spent the last twenty years on and off in China, first as a student and then most of the last five years as a reporter for British NPR.

It’s a great book full of nice, clear insights and good basic background information. Gifford explains China very well, and has an ability to succinctly connect what’s happening in it right now to its political and cultural heritage. His writing is good, easy going, and unpretentious- it’s one of those books you hate to finish.

I wrote a quote down early on, before I decided to buy the book- so here it is to give you a taste of it:

‘After the killing of the students in Tianamen Square in 1989, the Communist Party leaders made an unspoken deal with the people of China: stay out of politics and you can do anything you want. During the 1990s, for the first time in more than forty years (or perhaps four thousand), the Chinese government began to retreat from people’s everyday lives.

This was a very clever move by the Party. The tiny birdcage in which Chinese people had previously lived became an aviary. You cannot yet fly up into a clear blue sky and they can still catch you if they want to, but there is plenty of room to fly around.

First of all, yes, there is a consumer boom, but the majority of people have no access to it. If in the United States you need money to get power, in China you need power to get money.” P.15

[nobooksnolife_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

British author Rob Gifford, fluent in Mandarin, with 20 years experience in China as a student and journalist, decides to travel Route 312 from Shanghai to Korgaz (China's border with Kazakhstan). Devoting a summer to this 3000-mile trip via buses and taxis, he brings his career experience to ponder the questions of China's future.

Talking with ordinary people of many ethnic, economic and social identities, and putting today's China into historical context, the result is informative, thought-provoking, and brings us closer to understanding the sensitive issues facing this vast country. We receive a well-reasoned speculation about whether China will be able to change in a different manner, or will it continue a cycle of collapsing and rebuilding? Exceptionally well written, with sound historical background, a sense of humor, and profound understanding of China's people.

[jrepman_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

NPR Correspondent travels from Shanghai to Kazakhstan along Route 312-great book!

[lazybee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

China Road details Rob Giffords' trip along China's 3,000 mile Route 312. He begins in Shanghai, and hitchhikes, buses and cabs his way across the country to the Kazahkstani border.

Gifford spent six years as NPR's Beijing correspondent, and knows the country and language well. His journey shows readers China's immense geographic, ethnic and cultural diversity. His experiences on the trip also demonstrate the tension between the country's rapid economic development and the continuing rigidity of its political system, and the environmental devastation and huge gaps in living standards that have resulted from China's economic growth.

This book provides a very personal look at a fascinating and complicated country. Gifford feels strongly about China and its people, and his passion is contagious. His camaraderie with the farmers, truck drivers, salesmen, and monks he visits, his affection and admiration for China's spiritual and cultural heritage and those who are trying to preserve it, and his horror on meeting a doctor who performs forced abortions to enforce the one child policy, bring the story and the country vividly to life.

This is a very interesting and thought-provoking book, and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in China and its place in the world.