China Road

A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power

By: Rob Gifford

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

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 20 years of observing first-hand this rapidly transforming country, as he travels east to west, from Shanghai to China's border with Kazakhstan. As he takes listeners on this journey, he also takes them through China's past and present while he tries to make sense of this complex nation's potential future.

©2007 Robert Gifford (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Great educational and entertaining book

What did you like best about this story?

Imagine documenting a multi-month road trip across the USA by car, bus, train and foot. The people you meet, places you have seen, local customs, geography, foods, current conditions and future prognostications. Rob Gifford manages to give me his personal trip across China described in that way.

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Pleasurable and well paced voice that manages to easily flow those impossible Chinese language pronunciations.

Any additional comments?

This book made me feel like I was sitting with a grandparent reviewing pages of their family photo album. Each picture is a place with people, told in the first person and in a most entertaining way. A great well rounded expose of a foreign culture, its people and the land they live in.

The New China is Amazing

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this tale of travels across China. How China has developed in the last 25 years is amazing. Gifford interspersed history and folk tales with descriptions of his travels in a manner that was engaging and informative. I didn't want his trip to end. I highly recommend this book.

Like trekking in China with a history nerd

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Vance does a good job of interrpretting the autor's perspective and giving the words more meaning.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the book and learned a lot about China. The story was well paced but did have lots of extra detail. Overall I enjoyed the book.

Entertaining and educational!

What did you love best about China Road?

Exposure to a side of China I had no idea existed

What did you like best about this story?

Light humor, good performance and delivery. Topic and how it was written.

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I thought it was the author reading his own book!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

Listen to this book! I may do it again!

Good but dragged a bit at the end

I'm not sure if it was expressive use of language to communicate the essence of what it was to be on the road and in the desert, but Gifford's writing seems to drag at the end.
I enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book, but as he writes of the boredom of the desert crossing, his prose becomes as dull. Actually, it felt kinda meta: feeling bored by a description of boredom.
This happened again less than an hour from the end of the book (I checked the time figuring the book must be ending soon--not a good sign when you check the time remaining) as he explained that the end of his journey felt anti-climactic. I sighed, the end of the book itself seemed anti-climactic.
That being said, he did redeem himself a bit to wrap up the book, but I might have been happier to end my listening at the 3/4 mark.
Good first half, though, yep. Interesting characters, description, explanation and insight into areas of Chinese politics and culture I didn't know much about. not a thorough history but a series of observations and personal anecdotes from individuals in China--as seen through Gifford's journalist eyes.

Insightful analysis, nice reading

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Rob Gifford shares insight on China from years of experiences living in the Middle Kingdom. His East to West trip includes revealing anecdotes about the lives and values of Chinese people in various regions. He talks about his encounters with Chinese Amway entrepreneurs, muslim minorities, an abortion nurse and her assistant, AIDS whistle-blowers, long-haul truck drivers, a talk radio female star, and other intriguing types. The style is in line with the NPR reporting tone: it comes across as poised, respectful, but without much wit or intensity. Overall, a pleasant and revealing book. Gifford's prognostics at the end of his book are so far spot on. Four years after he wrote his book, several of the events he anticipated have happened, such as the peasant pushbacks and the tenuous financial balance with the real estate excesses.

The reading too is calm, but not monotonous at all -- a bit soothing, yet active enough to stay interesting. A clear delivery, clean recording, and a hint of a British accent.

An oasis in the Gobi desert !

The past, the present and the future of the Chinese culture presented without bias and lively along with living conditions, aspirations and dreams of the people of China and China provinces. Perfect

A Great book to listen to as I watched China go by

I just returned from a 3 week trip to China. My son and I went far into remote China with little knowledge of the language and spent a good deal of time looking out the window of our bus. Some days that was 5 hours some days 9 hours. I never tired of the bus ride as i listened and re-listened to this wonderful book. As I listened I watched the magnificent south western part of China unfold before my eyes.

Fascinating tales from deep within China

Rob Gifford does a phenomenal job with this book. He travels down the China Road talking and listening to the people he meets along the way. He talks to people standing on the corner, working in the fields, sitting on the bus - anywhere he has the opportunity. If they invite him to dinner or to a local activity, he goes. Then he relates the stories to us as if he's sitting at the dinner table with us - one great story after another. He expresses theories about why things are the way they are based on the country's history, while thankfully sparing us any judgements about right vs wrong. Toward the end, he seemed a tad weary of his travels and the pace slowed down, but not enough to diminish the 5 stars the book deserves.

An excellent introduction to modern China

As someone who lived in China I think Rob Gifford does a great job of giving the perspective of the average Chinese. This is one of a sadly small number of books that I would highly recommend both to someone passionately interested in the Middle Kingdom or someone with only a passing interest in this rising superpower.