These trees are old. Really old. Older even than the city of Xuzhou in northwest Jiangsu. That it be the oldest city in the Province, dating back 6,000 years as a civilisation and over 2,600 years as a city, makes it a fitting home therefore for forests of ginkgo.
这些树很老了。真的老了。甚至比江苏西北部的徐州市还要古老。它是该省最古老的城市，拥有 6,000 多年的文明历史和 2,600 多年的城市历史，因此非常适合银杏林的栖息地。
That home be Xuzhou, or specifically to Pizhou, quite some way to the east of Xuzhou, situated at the “tail” of the horse-shaped Luoma Lake. For those who dare make the trip, the reward for such is a gingko forest park covering an area of more than 300,000 mu (200 square kilometres). If the gingko is an endangered species on an international level, it is hardly so in this locale.
那家就是徐州，确切地说是邳州，在徐州以东很远的地方，位于马形的骆马湖的“尾巴”。对于那些敢于踏上这趟旅程的人来说，奖励就是占地超过30万亩（200平方公里）的银杏森林公园。如果说银杏在国际上是濒临灭绝的物种，那么在这个地区却并非如此。
The so called “Pizhou Gingko Time Tunnel” shall surely be the destination for many traveller coming to Xuzhou when late autumn approaches each year.
每年深秋来临之际，号称“邳州银杏时光隧道”的必将成为众多来徐州旅游的目的地。
Along this 3-kilometre-long village road, the gingko tree beaches weave a golden sky while the many layers of fallen leaves make for a golden carpet on which to walk.
沿着这条3公里长的村道，银杏树滩编织出金色的天空，层层叠叠的落叶为行走铺上了金色的地毯。
Gingko trees are also synonymous with autumn in Xuzhou city itself. Students in the Quanshan campus of Jiangsu Normal University are blessed with their own mini-gingko forest, while they also stand guard at the gate of the South Campus of Xuzhou Institute of Engineering.
银杏树也是徐州市秋天的代名词。江苏师范大学泉山校区的学生们拥有属于自己的迷你银杏林，同时也守护着徐州工程学院南校区的校门口。
Over in Tongshan New Area, Ginkgo trees are planted all around Haihe Road, Songshan Road and Changjiang Road among many others. Their long history makes for an ideal contrast with the cutting edge technologies being developed nearby.
在铜山新区，海河路、嵩山路、长江路等地都种植了银杏树。它们悠久的历史与附近正在开发的尖端技术形成了鲜明的对比。
Indeed, fossils very similar to today’s gingko have been found to date back 170 million years, in the Middle Jurassic period.
事实上，与今天的银杏非常相似的化石可以追溯到 1.7 亿年前的中侏罗世时期。
To put that in perspective, that’s before continental drift pulled North America, Greenland, Europe and Asia apart.
从长远来看，那是在大陆漂移将北美、格陵兰岛、欧洲和亚洲分开之前。
The genus Gingko thrived across this land at the time, diversifying in the process. But it was the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact of the K-Pg Extinction Level Event which sped up the gingko’s decline. Very quickly, the Ginkgo adiantoides was the only ginkgo species left in the Northern Hemisphere. By the time of the most recent ice ages of 2 million years ago, the gingko had disappeared from the fossil record everywhere but central China.
银杏属当时在这片土地上繁衍生息，并在此过程中多样化。但正是 K-Pg 灭绝级别事件导致恐龙灭绝的小行星撞击加速了银杏的衰落。很快，铁线银杏成为北半球仅存的银杏品种。到200万年前的最近一次冰河时期，银杏已经从除中国中部以外的各地的化石记录中消失了。
Most recently, the gingko’s tenacity was to be proved again, in 1945 Hiroshima.
最近，银杏的坚韧在 1945 年的广岛再次得到证明。
Six gingko trees growing close to ground zero were among the few living things to survive.
生长在零地附近的六棵银杏树是为数不多的幸存生物之一。
Though severely charred from the nuclear blast, the trees were soon healthy and are still alive today.
尽管核爆炸严重烧焦，但这些树很快就恢复健康，至今仍然活着。
As are many which witnessed other important events in world history. Some of the gingko tress still alive and well can remember the invention of gunpowder and the first printed money.
正如许多见证世界历史上其他重要事件的人一样。一些仍然活着的银杏树还记得火药的发明和第一张印刷的钱。
In Xuzhou, there are in fact 12 gingko trees which are over 1,000 years old and 69 around to have celebrated their 500th birthday.
在徐州，已有12棵树龄超过1000年的银杏树，其中69棵已迎来500岁生日。
Their age has also provided for plenty time to grow tall. While some specimens of gingko in China can grow to over 50 metres, heights of 20-23 metres are a lot more common.
他们的年龄也为他们提供了充足的长高时间。虽然中国的一些银杏标本可以长到 50 米以上，但 20-23 米的高度更为常见。
With their erratic branches, gingko tress usually have very deep roots, making them resistant to wind and snow damage.
银杏树的枝条不稳定，通常有很深的根，可以抵抗风雪的损害。
Such a long history has also provided humankind with plenty time to find a multitude of uses for gingko.
如此悠久的历史也为人类提供了充足的时间来发现银杏的多种用途。
As a herb, it is used in the prevention of altitude sickness, and in the treatment of cognitive disorders, dementia, vertigo, memory loss and premenstrual syndrome, among other conditions.
作为一种草药，它用于预防高原反应，以及治疗认知障碍、痴呆、眩晕、记忆丧失和经前综合症等疾病。
And such treatments have their origins in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Utilised for treatments in the Middle Kingdom since the 11th century, the The European Medicines Agency Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products has more recently concluded that medicines containing ginkgo leaf are indeed appropriate for the treatment of mild age-related dementia and mild peripheral vascular disease in adults.
这些治疗方法起源于传统中医。自 11 世纪起就在中王国用于治疗，欧洲药品管理局草药产品委员会最近得出结论，含有银杏叶的药物确实适合治疗成人轻度年龄相关性痴呆和轻度外周血管疾病。
Away from medicine, the hard wood of the gingko makes it ideal for ornamental works, while the foul-smelling fruit that is only produced by the female gingko is employed in edible toasted treats.
除药用外，银杏的坚硬木材使其成为观赏作品的理想选择，而只有雌性银杏产生的恶臭果实则用于制作可食用的烤食品。
With China as its ancient home, the gingko in due course found its way to the West. In the early 1700s, explorers returning to Europe took some Gingko seeds with them and in 1784, the ginkgo was introduced to America.
银杏以中国为古老的故乡，随后就传到了西方。 1700 年代初期，探险家返回欧洲时携带了一些银杏种子，1784 年，银杏被引入美洲。
This of course got the scientific community as a whole interested. Today, there is a significant body of thought that believes the gingo to be the living link in the evolution of ferns to trees.
这当然引起了整个科学界的兴趣。今天，有一个重要的观点认为银杏是蕨类植物向树木进化的活生生的纽带。
With this increasing knowledge of the wonders of the Gingko putting its golden splendour in late autumn top of many people’s bucket lists, forget not the local saying, “If you want to appreciate ginkgo in Jiangsu, you have to go to Xuzhou; if you want to appreciate ginkgo in Xuzhou, you can’t miss Pizhou”.
随着人们对银杏奇观的认识不断加深，深秋银杏的金碧辉煌已成为许多人的愿望清单之首，不要忘记当地有句俗话：“欲看江苏银杏，不可到徐州；欲看徐州银杏，不可错过邳州”。
Go Gingko Spotting in Jiangsu
去江苏赏银杏
In Xuzhou… Haihe Road, Songshan Road and Changjiang Road in Tongshan New Area / Jiangsu Normal University and Xuzhou Institute of Engineering / Gingko Time Tunnel and Yaozhuang Village in Pizhou
徐州…铜山新区海河路、嵩山路、长江路 / 江苏师范大学、徐州工程学院 / 邳州银杏时光隧道、姚庄村
In Nanjing… Mingxiaoling, Qixia Mountain, Xuanwu Lake and Binjiang Park
南京…明小岭、栖霞山、玄武湖、滨江公园
In Suzhou… Yinxing Road and Qiyuan Road
苏州…银星路和启园路
In Yangzhou… Shi Kefa Memorial Hall
在扬州…史可法纪念馆
In Nantong… Zhang Jian Memorial Hall in Changle town, Haimen
在南通……海门长乐镇张謇纪念馆
In Wuxi… Taihu Lake in Masan / Gu Kejiu Temple in Huishan ancient town
在无锡…马山太湖/惠山古镇顾可久寺
