Tuesday, July 24, 2007 | 12:00 AM EDT - 12:00 AM EDT

National Public Radio correspondent Rob Gifford traveled along China’s Route 312, from the dynamic metropolis of Shanghai to the remote border region with Kazakhstan. In China Road, Mr. Gifford uses people and scenes from his three thousand-mile trip to illustrate how China’s booming economy has, among other things, generated new opportunities for citizens, prompted a mass migration of people from the countryside to cities, and created sharp income disparities and myriad new challenges. He discussed some of the memorable encounters along his journey, as well as other observations from his long tenure as NPR’s Beijing bureau chief, at this National Committee program.