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China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power | 
 enlarge | Author: Rob Gifford
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $17.00
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Rating:  62 reviews
Sales Rank: 9798
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0812975243
Dewey Decimal Number: 951.06
EAN: 9780812975246
ASIN: 0812975243
Publication Date: June 3, 2008
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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
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 57 more reviews...
 Fascinating profile of China today October 25, 2008
I read this book while teaching school in China Summer 2008. It was a very interesting depiction of the dichotomies in China today - on the one hand the official word and on the other the curiosity and interest of the people in everything western. It was a book that made me think a lot about what I was seeing and what my students were saying. Gifford very accurately and clearly points out the options that face China in the near future and manages to give what seemed to me an unbiased view of both sides of each option. Gifford travels to both known and little known places so it's a travelogue as well. The book is very well written and well worth reading if you have any interest in China at all. When I finished reading China Road, I passed it along to another teacher at the school who has travelled throughout China and has lived there as well. He could hardly put it down, he found it so interesting.
China Road - trip into the minds of the populace October 24, 2008
Rob Gifford presents an insightful journey into the hearts of the hearts and minds of the Chinese citizens he interviews on his travels down Route 312. He also provides historical information on how China got where it is today, and his prediction on how the country will evolve in the future. His observations help outsiders understand the ever evolving mixture of loosening economical control with the maintenance of a communist political structure, and the risks it presents to China's future. Overall, an excellent and thought provoking book!
China from one side to the other October 22, 2008
NPR reporter Robert Grifford travels the length of China overland meeting interesting people and seeing the sharp contrasts in this emerging power.
From the ultra-modern skyscrapers of Shanghai to farms unchanged in centuries Grifford seeks out the state of modern China in each.
Grifford's style is clear and patient, he explains the history and background of each destination and even a pronunciation guide for Chinese names. Both neophites and veteran China scholars will find things of interest.
The Best Travel Essay on China Since Iron and Silk October 13, 2008
Before and after my two trips to China, 1998 and 2000, I had read just about every relatively modern travel essay on China. Mark Salzman's "Iron and Silk" had always been my favorite. Unfortunately, it was written in 1982 and the China it described has changed over in many ways many times.
I still love "Iron and Silk" but have looked and yearned for a more up to date travel essay that is more accurate regarding today's China. Until "China Road" I had never found it.
I know a lot of people liked "Rivertown" but it just did not do it for me. The recent "American Shaolin" is a great read but unfortunately tells a story from the early 1990's. China has changed so much and so fast since the end of Mao and the modernization that started under Deng and continues as we speak.
China Road nails it. This book gives you the most up to date look at China I have ever read. It is well written, the insights and commentary are fantastic, and most importantly it will give the reader a view of the China of now and not the China of 5 or 10 years ago...because the China of 1998 is not the China of 2008.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in China or thinking of going there.
 Declan September 16, 2008
This was an enjoyable read, great if you what a flavor of China but not if you want an in-depth reflection. A good travel diary. I liked it
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