China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power by Rob Gifford
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Book Reviews of China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power
Book Review: Excellent book
Summary: 5 Stars
Great description of life in present day China not available to armchair adventurers in the WestBook Review: Wish Granted
Summary: 5 Stars
My ears picked up whenever Gifford's NPR reports about China aired. These were invariably interesting, informative; engaging. "I hope a book comes out of this," I wished. Here it is. A vivid "you-are-there" description of the rapid (but uneven) changes occurring in China today. Especially valuable for anyone planning a trip.Book Review: Highly Recommend Book - China Road
Summary: 5 Stars
China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power
I am reading some books recently (to name a few, the China Road, Collapse)...
I like Rob Gifford's book China Road very much. It is very interesting to read, and offers a great angle to analyze the real problems and hopes of China.
Let me tell you why I love this book.
The Idea
The idea behind the book is to take a journey along the China State Road No. 312 from Shanghai to north-west border of China. This idea itself is attractive.
What is road 312, or G312 (G means Guo or State)? It is a road starting from Shanghai, cross the mainland of China, and travels along many provinces like Anhui, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Xinjiang... It is something like the mother road Route 66 in the United States.
It is a long road. It is 4825 km long, and the diversity in both natural and social scene is huge enough for anyone who are willing to understand more about China.
The idea is appealing to me as well. Maybe one day I should also take the trip of G312 to know China - I never claim I know China. I only know part of it, and I, myself, was often shocked by some facts I found out about China. In this sense, Rob knows China much better than I do.
The Trip
During the trip, Rob didn't just completed the trip - he explored deep inside. He visited places normal people live and normal travelers don't go. He talks with people who are saying something very familiar to me. He visited "dangerous" and "sensitive" places like Shangcai (I didn't make typo here. It is letter "c", not "h") in Henan Province, the AIDS village under the pressure of the local police... The trip was amazing, and I pleasantly followed his article to travel with him.
The Thinking
It is definitely not just a travelogue. It is a book full of his thought, not just observation. Let me just mention few of them.
In Shanghai, Rob noticed the difference of two party members. One still believe Communism is the future, while the other (I am like her) don't believe it. I laughed since it is common discussion I heard in my daily life.
Like in Xi'an, he thought about the question why China don't have its own Runnymede or Magna Carta. He thought it was rooted to the unification of the country in 221 B.C. when Qin (Chin) unified the whole country, by force. (I didn't repeat the whole story, but I think you can find out more).
After his trip, he event thought about the China's history in a while, and claiming that the country is going through circles:
China's history has only ever been about uniting and then collapsing, reuniting and then being invaded, overthrow, collapse, reuniting and collapsing again. Why should the future be any different?
-Rob, Page 276, A road is made, China Road
He then list some reasons why the future of China can be different...
My Thoughts
I appreciate Rob's thoughts, and his effort to report what China is today, and try to predict (although it is one of the hardest thing to do in the world) its future. The thought and deep sympathy are very rare in the books I read most of the time.
What about the China's future? This is a serious question. There are given answers that most people in this country can recite and even written in the constitute. However, I don't believe in. People should think about this question seriously (despite it is highly encouraged by the government that not to think about it at all).
Book Review: Totally Addicting
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought it and read 100 pages in one two-hour sitting! What I really appreciated about this book is the interweaving of China's past with its present. How can we understand the China of today if we don't fully appreciate its past? The author does a superb job of this. I can tell you that his insights and the experiences he had with Chinese citizens on his trip are completely and totally in synch with what I hear from my Chinese friends and colleagues. If you want to understand China, read this book!Book Review: 4.5 Stars... Slightly different take on China adds new perspectives
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been reading quite a few books on China, as I am fascinated with and intruiged by the country's amazing economic transformation, and the potential consequences elsewhere in the world, including here in the US. (Among the better ones are China Shakes the World by James Kygny as well as The Elephant and the Dragon by Robyn Meredith). If you listen regularly to NPR Morning Edition and All Things Considered, Rob Gifford will be a familiar voice.
In "China Road: A Journey Into the Future of a Rising Power" (344 pages), Gifford, who has had a lifelong fascination with China and speaks Mandarin fluently, takes us on a journey across China on Road 312, the Chinese equivalent of our Route 66. Starting in Shanghai and working his way west, Gifford meets ordinary and not-so-ordinary Chinese and simply lets them do the talking. It makes for compelling reading. Talking to a well-known radio talk-show host in Shanghai, the host remarks that "morality--a sense of what's right and wrong--doesn't matter anymore".
At some point in his journey Gifford runs into a man holding a big sign that reads ANTICORRUPTION JOURNEY ACROSS CHINA. The man tells Gifford that "You see, in the West, people have a moral standard that is inside them. It is built into them. Chinese people do not have that moral standard within them. If there is nothing external stopping them, they just do whatever they want for themselves, regardless of right and wrong".
When Gifford runs into an Indian national, he hopes to have a discussion about how things are evolving in India versus in China, but the man is not interested in having the discussion. Gifford then dryly writes "So in the end, I have the conversation with myself over dinner and I conclude that I don't want to be a Chinese peasant OR an Indian peasant. But if I have to take a side, despite all the massive problems of rural China, I'll go for the sweet and sour pork over the chicken biryani any day of the week". Gifford spends a fair amount of time giving thought whether China can ever become a real democracy. Looking back at the 13th century, Gifford writes "There are many ways in which China was far head of Europe, in terms of technological development and prosperity. But for some reason, their system never developed any real checks on state power, and since in the West these checks did emerge, it has become a real contention between the two sides".
I could go on giving more quotes from the book, but suffice it to say that Gifford brings story upon story, and observation upon observation about China the culture, the people, the country, just superb. I was in China earlier this year and happen to be in a number of the cities that Gifford talks about in the book, in particular Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing and Xi'an, and this book brought back some great memories. This book is not just a "travelogue", but instead a wonderful mix of facts and observations. Highly recommended for anyone interested in China!