Book Review – China Road

2009 07 25

While in Moscow I finished my first book of the trip: China Road
(the image is the edition I had, but it seems like it has been relaunched recovered)

A highly readable and informative perspective on China as a British radio journalist concludes 20 years of living and working in China with a road trip along China's equivalent of Route 66 – road 312 - which runs from Shanghai in the South East to the Kazakhstan border in the North West. Along the way, Rob Gifford engages with the people whose lives are bound up with the road, be they truckers, commuters, street vendors, or just people who live near by, and discusses some of the recent and ancient history that brought their world to this point.
I found this book to be an excellent general introduction to the China of today. Gifford presents opinions on why it is the way it is, referencing and illuminating some of the significant moments and aspects of Chinas recent and ancient history.
I will read this book again after my travels I'm sure.