In 2004, NPR correspondent Rob Gifford went “On the Road in China,” traveling 3000 miles from Shanghai to Korgaz along China’s Route 312 through Nanjing, Hefei, Xinyang, Xian, Lanzhou, Jiayuguan, and Urumi over 14 days. His seven-part report is available at <http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2004/aug/china_road/>.
From the edge of the Gobi Desert, Gifford’s fourth report looks at life in parts of China that development hasn’t reached. Wang Bin, who left his village to work in construction but was a victim of unaccountable, undocumented labor contracting and found himself back home, depressed, and out of work. Now, he and his mother live on $200 a year by tending a tiny plot of crops and providing oil and water to truckers. Furthermore, Wang Bin, like other peasant boys, suffers the legacy of the “One Child Policy,” and cannot find a wife for less than $4000 (20 years’ wages) in dowry. “It’s the return of feudalism in a capitalist era,” observes Wang Bin.