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On the Road in China: Talking Politics with a Trucker

By Rob Gifford
Published August 9, 2004 at 12:00 AM EDT
NPR's Rob Gifford hitches a ride with a truck driver across the Gobi Desert.
Liang Yan, for NPR
NPR's Rob Gifford hitches a ride with a truck driver across the Gobi Desert.
NPR's Rob Gifford hitches a ride with a truck driver across the Gobi Desert.
Liang Yan, for NPR /
NPR's Rob Gifford hitches a ride with a truck driver across the Gobi Desert.

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.

In the sixth of his seven-part series about his 3,000-mile journey across China, NPR's Rob 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.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Rob Gifford
Rob Gifford is the NPR foreign correspondent based in Shanghai.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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