Rob Gifford

When acclaimed NPR correspondent Rob Gifford set out on a 3,000-mile journey along the "Mother Road of China," from Shanghai into the heart of Asia, he had one big question: "Which is it going to be for China, greatness or implosion?" He found the answer in the ordinary people, caught up in an extraordinary moment in time, who he discovered along the way.

Gifford shares his compelling adventure along the Chinese Route 66 in "China Road," the best-selling book that defines the great nation through the generation of people building the new China - revealing the rich mosaic of modern Chinese life in all its contradiction. His speech "China Road" describes a two-month journey along Route 312 in China, offering insights into the social and economic changes in the country. He has traveled extensively across China and East Asia, reporting on significant events such as elections in Taiwan and East Timor, and diplomatic visits to North Korea. His reporting has covered a wide range of topics from Christian missionaries in Mongolia to Internet start-ups in Hong Kong.

Gifford first went to China in 1987 as a twenty-year-old language student. He has spent much of the last two decades studying China while traveling all over the continent, reporting for NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered." Currently, he is the China Editor for "The Economist." He holds a BA in Chinese Studies from Durham University, UK, and an MA in Regional Studies (East Asia) from Harvard University. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Gifford recreates the voices of the people and breathes life into the region, drawing audiences into the story with him. With eloquence and a dash of humor, he opens eyes and minds, revealing how the future of the West is inexorably linked to the fate of 1.3 billion Chinese people.