Rob Gifford is a British radio correspondent and journalist. He has degrees in Chinese Studies from

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills ( Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_cha ...

and in Regional Studies (East Asia) from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

. He began to learn Mandarin Chinese in 1987 whilst in China. Gifford was on staff at the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...

for three years. In the United States, he worked for two years at

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. From 1999 to 2005, Gifford was the China correspondent for

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

(NPR). He took leave of absence from NPR to write his first book, ''

China Road ''China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power'' is a book on travel literature by Rob Gifford, first published on January 1, 2007 by Random House. The book documents Gifford's 2004 trip across China National Highway 312 from Shanghai ...

'', (2007; ), which was based on his six-week trip on National Highway 312,

China's China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones ...

3000 mile (4800 kilometre) "mother road" stretching from Shanghai to the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert ( Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast a ...

. Gifford initially covered this journey in a seven-part radio series for NPR's program ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 A ...

'', as one of his last journalistic projects in China. Gifford is currently the China editor of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' (beginning August 2011), and was previously the London bureau chief for NPR.The Economist (2012)
Rob Gifford
Retrieved 5 February 2012.

References

External links

*
Podcast of Rob Gifford discussing “China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power” at the Shanghai International Literary Festival
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male journalists American travel writers Alumni of Durham University Harvard University alumni NPR personalities The Economist people {{US-journalist-20thC-stub