The Shanghai Free Taxi
Journeys with the Hustlers and Rebels of the New China
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Narrated by:
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Frank Langfitt
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By:
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Frank Langfitt
About this listen
As any traveler knows, some of the best and most honest conversations take place during car rides. So, when a long-time NPR correspondent wanted to learn more about the real China, he started driving a cab - and discovered a country amid seismic political and economic change.
China - America's most important competitor - is at a turning point. With economic growth slowing, Chinese people face inequality and uncertainty as their leaders tighten control at home and project power abroad.
In this adventurous, original book, NPR correspondent Frank Langfitt describes how he created a free taxi service - offering rides in exchange for illuminating conversation - to go beyond the headlines and get to know a wide range of colorful, compelling characters representative of the new China. They include folks like "Beer", a slippery salesman who tries to sell Langfitt a used car; Rocky, a farm boy turned Shanghai lawyer; and Chen, who runs an underground Christian church and moves his family to America in search of a better, freer life.
Blending unforgettable characters, evocative travel writing, and insightful political analysis, The Shanghai Free Taxi is a sharply observed and surprising book that will help listeners make sense of the world's other superpower at this extraordinary moment.
©2019 Frank Langfitt (P)2019 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"The Shanghai Free Taxi presents a unique, kaleidoscopic view of Chinese society. Characters in this book open up, talking freely and truthfully in a way unimaginable elsewhere under the oppressive regime. It is a must read for anyone trying to gain rare and insightful glimpses into that complicated country." (Qiu Xiaolong, author of Shanghai Redemption and nine other Inspector Chen novels)
"Frank Langfitt devised an ingenious way to burrow into everyday Chinese life, and he came back with stories that are humane, candid, fast-paced, and compulsively readable. The Shanghai Free Taxi gives you the marrow of today's China in all its kindnesses and cruelties and wonders and absurdities." (Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, National Book Award winner)
"Frank Langfitt's stint as a taxi driver collecting tales of modern China has created a rollicking, delightful read. Enchanting." (Mei Fong, author of One Child, and Pulitzer Prize winner)
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Story
Noted Mexican American journalist Alfredo Corchado refuses to shrink from reporting on government corruption, murders in Juarez, or the ruthless drug cartels of Mexico. One night, Corchado received a tip that he could be the next target of the Zetas, a violent paramilitary group - and that he had 24 hours to find out if the threat was true. Midnight in Mexico is the story of one man's quest to report the truth of his country - as he races to save his own life.
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Fascinating & suspenseful historical non-fiction!
- By Ruth Barrie on 06-30-19
By: Alfredo Corchado
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Red Roulette
- An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China
- By: Desmond Shum
- Narrated by: Tim Chiou
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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As Desmond Shum was growing up impoverished in China, he vowed his life would be different. Through hard work and sheer tenacity he earned an American college degree and returned to his native country to establish himself in business. There, he met his future wife, the highly intelligent and equally ambitious Whitney Duan who was determined to make her mark within China’s male-dominated society. Whitney and Desmond formed an effective team and, aided by relationships they formed with top members of China’s Communist Party, the so-called red aristocracy.
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Desmond Shum is not a rube! He knows about wine, ok?
- By Peter L Hansen on 10-06-21
By: Desmond Shum
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1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows
- A Memoir
- By: Ai Weiwei, Allan H. Barr - translator
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Once a close associate of Mao Zedong and the nation’s most celebrated poet, Ai Weiwei’s father, Ai Qing, was branded a rightist during the Cultural Revolution, and he and his family were banished to a desolate place known as “Little Siberia,” where Ai Qing was sentenced to hard labor cleaning public toilets. Ai Weiwei recounts his childhood in exile, and his difficult decision to leave his family to study art in America, where he befriended Allen Ginsberg and was inspired by Andy Warhol and the artworks of Marcel Duchamp.
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This book changed my life
- By Johnny Nopolis on 08-16-22
By: Ai Weiwei, and others
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Three Tigers, One Mountain
- A Journey Through the Bitter History and Current Conflicts of China, Korea, and Japan
- By: Michael Booth
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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There is an ancient Chinese proverb that states, "Two tigers cannot share the same mountain." However, in East Asia, there are three tigers on that mountain: China, Japan, and Korea, and they have a long history of turmoil and tension with each other. In his latest entertaining and thought-provoking narrative travelogue, Michael Booth sets out to discover how deep, really, the enmity is between these three "tiger" nations and what prevents them from making peace.
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Not much new here if you are already familiar
- By Neil Richert on 07-13-20
By: Michael Booth
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India
- A Portrait
- By: Patrick French
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Second only to China in the magnitude of its economic miracle and second to none in its potential to shape the new century, India is fast undergoing one of the most momentous transformations the world has ever seen. In this dazzlingly panoramic book, Patrick French chronicles that epic change, telling human stories to explain a larger national narrative. Melding on-the-ground reports with a deep knowledge of history, French exposes the cultural foundations of India’s political, economic and social complexities.
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An Epic Book by Award-Winning Author
- By morton on 10-31-11
By: Patrick French
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The Great Successor
- The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un
- By: Anna Fifield
- Narrated by: Olivia Mackenzie-Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Anna Fifield reconstructs Kim's past and present with exclusive access to sources near him and brings her unique understanding to explain the dynastic mission of the Kim family in North Korea. The archaic notion of despotic family rule matches the almost medieval hardship the country has suffered under the Kims. Few people thought that a young, untested, unhealthy, Swiss-educated basketball fanatic could hold together a country that should have fallen apart years ago. But Kim Jong Un has not just survived, he has thrived.
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Great book
- By WPD on 06-26-19
By: Anna Fifield
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The Rebel and the Kingdom
- The True Story of the Secret Mission to Overthrow the North Korean Regime
- By: Bradley Hope
- Narrated by: Lee Osorio
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early 2000s, Adrian Hong was a soft-spoken Yale undergraduate looking for his place in the world. After reading a harrowing account of life inside North Korea, he realized he had found a cause so pressing that he was ready to devote his life to it. Hong journeyed to China, outwitting Chinese security services as he helped ferry asylum-seeking North Korean escapees to safety. The Rebel and the Kingdom is an exhilarating account of a man who turns his back on the status quo—to instead live boldly by his principles.
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Phenomenal true story
- By NYCdogmomma on 11-13-22
By: Bradley Hope
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Strange Stones
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Peter Hessler’s best reportage - a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of his work. Over the last decade, as a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three books, Peter Hessler has lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions.
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funny, entertaining
- By Katherine on 08-02-13
By: Peter Hessler
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Erdogan Rising
- The Battle for the Soul of Turkey
- By: Hannah Lucinda Smith
- Narrated by: Hannah Lucinda Smith
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Everyone has heard of Erdogan: Turkey’s bullish, mercurial president is the original postmodern populist. Around the world, other strongmen are now following the path that he has blazed. For the first time, Erdogan Rising tells the inside story of how a democracy on the fringe of Europe has succumbed to dictatorship. Hannah Lucinda Smith, Turkey correspondent with The Times of London, has witnessed all that has befallen Turkey and the wider region since the onset of the Arab Spring.
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Overall fascinating profile of Erdogan’s Turkey
- By Saul M on 09-18-20
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The Perfect Police State
- An Undercover Odyssey into China's Terrifying Surveillance Dystopia of the Future
- By: Geoffrey Cain
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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A riveting investigation into how a restive region of China became the site of a nightmare Orwellian social experiment - the definitive police state - and the global technology giants that made it possible.
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Enjoyed the story and performance
- By Nate on 07-08-21
By: Geoffrey Cain
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The Unwinding
- An Inner History of the New America
- By: George Packer
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Unwinding, George Packer, author of The Assassins’ Gate: America in Iraq, tells the story of the United States over the past three decades in an utterly original way, with his characteristically sharp eye for detail and gift for weaving together complex narratives. The Unwinding portrays a superpower in danger of coming apart at the seams, its elites no longer elite, its institutions no longer working, its ordinary people left to improvise their own schemes for success and salvation.
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Can't understand the low ratings!
- By Janet Pittman Henley on 05-27-13
By: George Packer
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The Almost Nearly Perfect People
- Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia
- By: Michael Booth
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than 10 years, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely audiobook, he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success, and, most intriguing of all, what they think of one another.
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Obsessed with bad politics
- By Erik on 09-07-20
By: Michael Booth
What listeners say about The Shanghai Free Taxi
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Michael Wilson
- 06-23-19
Informative & Fascinating
Am excellent window to today’s China. The views and opinions of the Chinese people often are complex. By his conversations and friendship with his riders the author helps to clarify and bring some understanding to what motivates China in today’s world.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-06-23
Excellent Book
Great way to understand the nuance of China from a perspective other than their government. Really enjoyed the stories.
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- Sarah
- 01-31-20
Highly Recommend!
If you love China, powerful human interest stories, and understanding another part of our global society, I highly recommend this book. In my couple visits to China, I saw the energy, hustle and grit he describes here as well as the lack of freedom and individual voice. The author has done a great job cultivating relationships over many years with his subjects. I love his open minded, inquisitive reporting and how he shows humanity in the midst of the colossal expansion of China’s economic influence. It’s a great listen!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Thomas Swift
- 02-25-21
Spot on discussion of modern China
I spent time in China from 2007 to 2015. I could completely relate to his experience, especially ,Beer the used car salesman.
It is a little frightening to contemplate what could happen in China. Then the author steers us back from the edge. Now I'm just concerned.
The book is a great listen with outstanding narration.
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- Michelle Daniels
- 10-01-19
Informative and thought provoking.
If you enter this experience as I did, with no expectation except entertainment - and perhaps solving some mysteries about the Chinese - you’ll get that and more. I wasn’t expecting to learn about impactful events, both historical and contemporary, that a people who consider themselves informed and worldly should know. What surprised me most is the way so much of Chinese culture, policy, and politics is a reflection of those aspects in the U.S., including - and maybe especially - the erosion of trust in the interest of political domination.
I can’t decide if Langfitt was the best narrator. I generally prefer authors lending their own voice, but Langfitt is clearly accustomed to delivering short and fast stories. With so many words and descriptions that are literally foreign to these ears, my brain often lagged behind and it often impeded comprehension. But I could not have appreciated the way he acknowledged that his own life has been what so many pursue in all parts of the world.
Overall, a great story that’s piqued my interest in learning more about China.
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- Lisa Blackman
- 08-16-19
Good read
Book was a great insight in modern Chinese culture was surprised by most of the stories and fascinated every chapter the taxi was a cool idea like none i have seen
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3 people found this helpful
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- David L. Jones
- 02-14-20
Great concept, great insights.
As someone who also knows the Chinese very well, I found this book fascinating. What a great concept to use the free taxi to explore the real Chinese mindset. I also appreciated they way he stayed in touch who those he interviewed over the years. Well done!
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1 person found this helpful
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- David Kopsch
- 04-19-20
Inside China
Inside insights as to how people live in China. I recommend for Frank's bringing the Chinese reality to the forefront.
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- Jeremy S. Morris
- 11-19-19
Great book by one of my favorite reporters.
This a excellent book for anyone interested in understanding recent and present day China. As told through anecdotal stories the reader will see the struggles faced in modern China are of little difference from those of modern America. Consumption, greed, ego, empathy, redemption are woven in the lives of every day people both living China and abroad.
It is narrated by the author, NPR correspondent Frank Langfitt. It is always a treat when an author narrates their own book, special little nuances in their voice and personal pride always shine through.
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- Bryce Plank
- 04-28-22
Pull back the curtain
A telling look at life inside modern China by an author who took great time and care to get to know his subjects.
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