China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power
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- ISBN13: 9780812975246
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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 Ancient 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 levelheaded 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 place 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 ruin China’s rise.
The whole compelling adventure is told through the cast of colorful characters Gifford meets: garrulous talk-show hosts and ambitious yuppies, on the breadline 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 regularly cut-rate to economic statistics. Finally, he sounds a warning that all is not well in the Chinese heartlands, that serious problems lie yet to be, 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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Having just returned from 3 months in China, I can tell you this “book” is worthless. If he spent more than 5 days writing it, then he wasted a LOT of time. Don’t waste your time listening. If you do, you’ll be treated to a Freshman-level rehash of “what I did on my summer trip”, with random digressions on the same ‘CHINA IS REAL BIG’ statistics that we’ve all heard over and over and over. Yeah….it’s huge…..it’s different….and ?
Don’t waste your money.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
I ordered “China Road” by Rob Gifford on 9 cd’s. There was a problem with cd #3, although we did eventually get it to play partially. Disc #5 would not plat at all,even after cleaning. It was a disappointment!!
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
the leader is “tired of the optimistics” as he stated in the book. all he wanted to show is the negative side of view although part of them probably were right. if you really want to know a right china, you need to explore yourself broadly but not from anyone who only tells you what he wants you to know.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
This is a well-written account by a man who has the background to know what he sees. Most books on China either deal with the effect of governmental oppression on average citizens, or else on the civilization’s long and glorious history / economic powerhouse aspects. Gifford’s central point is the unprecedented movement of the Chinese off the land and into the cities.
This is a excellent book, worth reading, but I wouldn’t call it a classic.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
This book would have deserved four stars for excellent writing and first-hand information, if it goes into a small more depth about China. Since it is a spinoff from the leader’s NPR radio reports, no one should expect scholarly work with all the details. Read this book to get an overview of modern China, and then go get additional sources and books if you’re really interested in China. Never take one person’s views about a country and its history.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5