Ginkgo trees are old. Like really old. Older even than the city of Xuzhou in northwest Jiangsu. That it be the oldest in the Province, dating back 6,000 years, makes it a fitting home therefore for forests of ginkgo.
银杏树很老了。就像真的老了一样。甚至比江苏西北部的徐州市还要古老。它是该省最古老的，可以追溯到 6,000 年前，因此非常适合银杏林的栖息地。
Now is also the time of year to make a trip to Xuzhou, or specifically to Pizhou, quite some way to the east of Xuzhou, situated at the “tail” of the horse-shaped Luoma Lake. The reward for such is a ginkgo forest park covering an area of more than 200 square kilometres. If the ginkgo is an endangered species on an international level, it is hardly so in this locale.
现在也是一年中去徐州旅游的时候，或者具体来说是去邳州旅游，邳州位于徐州以东很远的地方，位于马形骆马湖的“尾巴”。奖励是一座面积200多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 Ginkgo Time Tunnel” shall surely be the destination for many a traveller coming to Xuzhou when late autumn approaches each year.
每年深秋来临时，所谓的“皮州银杏时间隧道”肯定会成为许多来徐州的游客的目的地。
Along this three-kilometre long village road, the ginkgo tree beaches weave a golden sky while the many layers of fallen leaves make for a golden carpet on which to walk.
沿着这条三公里长的乡村道路，银杏树的海滩编织着金色的天空，而许多层层的落叶构成了可以行走的金色地毯。
Ginkgo 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 ginkgo forest, while over in Tongshan New Area, ginkgo trees are planted all around Haihe Lu, Songshan Lu and Changjiang Lu, among many others. Their long history makes for an ideal contrast with the cutting edge technologies being developed nearby.
在徐州市，银杏树也是秋天的代名词。 江苏师范大学泉山校区的学生拥有自己的迷你银杏林，而在同山新区，海河路、松山路和长江路周围种植了银杏树。 他们悠久的历史与附近正在开发的尖端技术形成了理想的对比。
Indeed, fossils very similar to today’s ginkgo have been found to date back 170 million years, in the Middle Jurassic period. To put that in perspective, that’s before continental drift pulled North America, Greenland, Europe and Asia apart.
事实上，人们发现与今天的银杏非常相似的化石可以追溯到1.7亿年前的侏罗纪中期。 从这个角度来说，那是在大陆漂移将北美、格陵兰、欧洲和亚洲分开之前。
The genus ginkgo thrived across this land at the time, diversifying in the process. But it was the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact of the infamous K-Pg Extinction Level Event which sped up the ginkgo’s decline.
银杏属当时在这片土地上茁壮成长，在这个过程中多样化。 但正是臭名昭著的K-Pg灭绝水平事件的恐龙死亡小行星撞击加速了银杏的衰落。
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 ginkgo had disappeared from the fossil record everywhere but central China.
很快，银杏是北半球唯一剩下的银杏种。 到200万年前最近的冰河时代，除了中国中部之外，银杏已经从各地的化石记录中消失了。
Most recently, the ginkgo’s tenacity was to be proved again, in 1945 Hiroshima, with six ginkgo trees which were growing close to ground zero. They were among the few living things to survive.
最近，银杏的顽强生命力在 1945 年的广岛再次得到证明，六棵银杏树在接近零地的地方生长。它们是少数幸存下来的生物之一。
Though severely charred from the nuclear blast, the trees were soon healthy and are still alive today. As are many which witnessed other important events in world history. Some of the ginkgo trees still alive and well can remember the invention of gunpowder and the first printed money.
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。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钞票。
In Xuzhou, there are in fact 12 ginkgo trees which are over 1,000 years old and 69 that have hung around to have celebrated their 500th birthday.
在徐州，已有12棵树龄超过1000年的银杏树，69棵已经度过了500岁生日。
Their age has also provided for plenty time to grow tall. While some specimens of ginkgo 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, ginkgo trees usually have very deep roots, making them resistant to wind and snow damage.
银杏树的枝条不规则，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 ginkgo.
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, ginkgo is used in the prevention of altitude sickness, and in the treatment of cognitive disorders, dementia, vertigo, memory loss and premenstrual syndrome, among many other conditions.
作为一种草药，银杏可用于预防高原反应，以及治疗认知障碍、痴呆、眩晕、记忆丧失和经前综合症等多种疾病。
Such remedies have their origins in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Utilised for treatments in the Middle Kingdom since the 11th Century, the Europeans have also more recently got on board the gingko flying carpet.
这些疗法起源于传统中医。自 11 世纪以来，中国人就开始使用银杏飞毯进行治疗，欧洲人最近也开始使用银杏飞毯。
The European Medicines Agency Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products has concluded that medicines containing ginkgo leaf are indeed appropriate for the treatment of mild age-related dementia and mild peripheral vascular disease in adults.
欧洲药品管理局草药产品委员会得出结论，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周围血管疾病。
Away from medicine, the hard wood of the ginkgo makes it ideal for ornamental works, while the foul-smelling fruit that is only produced by the female ginkgo 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可用于制作可食用的烘烤食品。
With China as its ancient home, the ginkgo in due course found its way to the West. In the early 1700s, explorers returning to Europe took some ginkgo seeds with them and in 1784, the ginkgo was introduced to America.
银杏以中国为古老的故乡，适时地传到了西方。 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 ginkgo 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 ginkgo putting its golden splendour in late autumn top of many people’s bucket lists, forget not a 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了解不断加深，银杏的金色光辉成为了许多人的深秋愿望清单的首位，不要忘记当地的一句谚语。 “欲赏江苏银杏，不可到徐州；欲赏徐州银杏，不可错过邳州”。