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Like the Interstate Highways dissect the USA and
the Autobahn slices through the heart of Germany, Route 312 travels 3,000 rugged
miles from the East China Sea to Kazakhstan. Explore one of the greatest roads in the world,
thanks to National Public Radio and BMW
World!
 China
has 1,402,698 km of highways. 314,204 km of these roads are paved and there
are at least 16,314 km of expressways, including Route 312.
Part One
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If the 21st
century belongs to China, then Shanghai will be at the heart of that
success. The boomtown on China's eastern Pacific shores attracts
migrants from thousands of miles away who come seeking higher wages in
a sea of factories. Home to much of China's new and growing middle
class, the city is also the starting point of Route 312, reminiscent
of the old U.S. Route 66, which will take Gifford on his transnational
journey. |
Part Two
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The
province of Anhui is the rural heartland of China. Free-market reforms
were launched here 25 years ago, after Deng Xiaoping succeeded Mao as
supreme leader. Given that history of reform, Anhui should be
wealthier than it is. But farmers still use water buffalo and wooden
plows. Young people have left to look for work in the cities, leaving
behind only the old or the very young. And local authorities are as
powerful and capricious as ever. |
Part Three
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Heading
further west across China, the prevalence of prostitution is
inescapable. For many young women, it's the only way to make a living
in the impoverished center of the country. With the arrival of
capitalism, many state-owned enterprises vanished, taking jobs with
them. But with the erosion of communist influence there also is an
explosion in religion, and many small Christian churches can be found
along Route 312. |
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Speeding is
common on China's roads, and fatal accidents are frequent. Statues
of policemen are placed beside the road in Anhui and Henan provinces
to try to make drivers slow down. If you're caught speeding, you can
be detained and fined heavily, especially Westerners. |
Part Four
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A small
town on the edge of the Gobi Desert symbolizes the problems faced by
rural China. The mother of a 21-year-old unemployed man wishes he
would marry, but it's impossible to find a wife because China's
one-child policy results in a shortage of women. Further down Route
312, an arid village suffers a water shortage caused when corrupt
local officials seized control of the supply. Asked what he can do
about it, a resident is resigned to answer: "endure." |
Part Five
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The well-to-do travel by plane to the cities and tourist attractions
of western China. But for most travelers in this sun-baked region,
there's the bus. (Camels are mostly for the tourists now.) Rickety
vehicles ply Route 312, which parallels the old Silk Road, carrying
traders who deal in cell phones rather than silk and spices, and
construction workers heading toward government-funded projects further
west. |
Part Six
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Chinese
people have never had a say in the way their country is governed. But
that doesn't mean they don't have strong views about the way it should
be. Gifford gets an earful from a truck driver during a 12-hour drive
across the Gobi Desert. The 30-year-old trucker is torn between a love
of his country and anger at the corruption that plagues it. |
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The old Route
312 passes through rural Anhui province. A new four-lane highway has
taken much of the traffic off this part of the road, but those who
want to see rural China close up must stick to the country road.
Farms nestle beside the road, and peasants still take Route 312 to
market. |
Part Seven
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On the
other side of the Gobi Desert, Gifford finds the last thing he would
expect: a bowling alley. It's a symbol of the regional capital's new
middle class, and the result of the government's effort to raise
western China's standard of living. The aim is to make the Muslim
minorities less likely to revolt. The journey on Route 312 ends
at the Kazakhstan border, in a town populated by souvenir sellers and
moneychangers. |
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