Frank Langfitt

NPR's Frank Langfitt has been giving free taxi rides around Shanghai to learn about the lives of ordinary Chinese. He's decided to stop renting a car and buy one. That's when he met Beer Horse.

In just 18 months, China has created more than 2,000 acres of new land where before there were just waves and reef, according to the U.S., which sees the work as a threat to regional stability.

China's government is trying to control coverage of the sinking of a cruise ship in the Yangtze River. Dozens are confirmed dead and the number is expected to pass 400.

A violent storm struck a cruise ship on the Yangtze River and it capsized. Anger is rising among the passengers' relatives, who complain they've been blocked from going to river bank to stand vigil.

In China, a cruise ship capsized on the Yangtze River during a storm. Most of the 458 on board the ship are elderly. Hundreds of people are missing, and many may be trapped within the ship.

NPR's Frank Langfitt has been driving around Shanghai offering free rides to learn about real life in China. But he was recently a taxi passenger when something unusual happened.

China is flexing its muscles in the South China Sea. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a group of diplomats in Singapore over the weekend that the U.S. was "deeply concerned" about China's activity.

The think tank's article says professors are miscasting the history of the country's Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). That's big for the Communist Party, which is invested in history — and who interprets it.

Huge box office numbers underscore how essential the Chinese market has become to Hollywood's bottom line. Money is power — meaning the Communist Party has increasing influence over big U.S. movies.

Smartphone sales in China contracted by about 4 percent year-on-year from January through March, according to International Data Corporation, the American market analysis firm. Sales for the first quarter were just under 100 million. IDC says this is the first time in six years that the smartphone market in China ...

The 2,073-foot-tall Shanghai Tower, the world's second-tallest building, opens this year. More than just a skyscraper, it's a symbol of Shanghai's — and China's — soaring ambitions.

Uber is becoming more popular in China, but many drivers say they don't do it for the money. They say they like the human connection and the freedom.

Looking for a way to give a departed loved one a send-off everyone will remember?

How about hiring strippers to perform at the funeral?

In some parts of rural China, this is not considered absurd, but a good idea.

In February, police busted groups performing striptease acts at funerals in ...

Billboard. Mo Money. Lady Gaga. Cinderella. Those are just a few of the unusual names young Chinese have adopted over the years. An American entrepreneur hopes to suggest more appropriate ones.

The Shanghai exchange is on a tear, but there could be trouble ahead for ill-informed investors. Analysts say the current upswing is driven by perceptions rather than fundamentals.

Editor's Note: NPR's Frank Langfitt, who has been driving Chinese people around to better understand the country, recently chauffeured a couple 500 miles from Shanghai to their countryside wedding. The original version, published in English, is here.

中间那个系围巾的人就是我。为了制作这个名为"上海街道"的系列报道，我在上海及周遭地区开车搭载中国人，这正成为我生活的一种常态。我通常在上海市内提供免费车服务，这样就能遇见形形色色的人，感受真正的中国生活。在中国这个迅速发展的地方，两代人的间隔可能只有5年。

在此系列的第二期报导里，我决定开车送两位男士和其中一位的未婚妻回到他们位于华中的湖北老家过农历新年，并参加他俩的婚礼。这张照片摄于沪渝高速的一个休息站。这条平坦的四车道高速公路于五年前建成。

春节返乡是全世界最大规模的人口迁徙。上亿人从中国发达的沿海大型城市流回农村，那里是他们的根基所在。众所周知，返乡旅程令人身心俱疲：我曾在1998年春节与贫穷的进城务工人员一起回家，那是无眠的24个小时，下了火车又上班车。

十七年后的今天，和中国的基础设施一样，春节返乡的体验也大有改观。高铁大幅缩减了旅途耗时，高速公路替代了坑坑洼洼的两车道，拼车回家也成为一个新的选择。

我们的做法和拼车差不多。在驾驶了14小时、跑了800多公里之后，我的身体也燃尽了"汽油"，所以不得不在一家宾馆歇脚。第二天早晨，我开车送其中的一对情侣——洛奇(Rocky)和小朴去领结婚证。

沪渝高速是中国巨大的现代化高速公路网的一部分，道路质量达国际标准。我开的谨慎且缓慢，因为多数中国人没有太多的驾驶经验。有些人还喜欢以120公里的时速从紧急车道超车。

像这个国家的所有事情一样，中国的婚礼传统也在改变。现在许多人购买印制的对联，贴在家门两侧。但洛奇要的是真正的婚联，所以村里的书法家——照片中这位头戴锐步棒球帽的老者，用一支毛笔和墨汁在洛奇家的院子里手书婚联。许多年轻人正逐步失去汉字书写能力，因为他们多在智能手机上用拇指"写"汉字。

到达村子后，一支乡村舞蹈队给我们带来了出人意料的表演。为了洛奇的婚礼，他的母亲郭女士(右下图中穿红色外衣)和他的各位婶婶花了6个月的时间排练这几支舞。这种舞有点类似美国的乡村排舞(line dancing)。相比她们原来的爱好，所有人都认同这一新爱好是一个巨大的进步。她们原来喜欢打麻将。

"我小的时候会在这里用桶在提水，浇灌那边的作物，"30岁的洛奇在他家的田埂上边走边说，"我还帮忙收花生什么的。"

洛奇说村里的多数年轻人早就进城去工厂和办公室工作了。"现在，这里已经没有人收拾了。"

然而"老家"这一概念仍深深根植于中国文化之中。

...

Over the past couple of decades, a river of labor poured out of China's interior to its coasts as hundreds of millions of people traded farm for factory. Most improved their lives, but they paid for it in other ways, leaving behind families for a sometimes lonely existence.

These days, ...

That's me (with scarf) in what's becoming my natural element, driving Chinese people around Shanghai and beyond for a series called "Streets of Shanghai." Usually, I offer free rides around the city so I can meet different kinds of people and get a sense of real life in China, where ...

In our Streets of Shanghai series, we hear about Charles who met his wife through a social networking app. The couple consulted a fortune teller before tying the knot.

The two brothers credit their parents for hard work and the expansion of university education in China, which gave them a springboard to white-collar careers.