It's the relaunch of our previous podcast channel where we talk about anything and everything. 
The aim is to offer Italki members a refreshing and entertaining way to improve their English. ENJOY!  


In a universe of randomness 

南京的梧桐树真正的名字叫“悬铃木”。So its real name is " plane ".
悬铃木的果实有一个球的、叫“一球悬铃木”，三个球的叫“三球悬铃木”。The fruit of sycamore with one ball is called "Sycamore with one ball", and the fruit with three balls is called "Sycamore with three balls".
这二者的杂交，产生了“二球悬铃木，简称”悬铃木“。The hybrid of these two, produced "two ball sycamore, short for" Sycamore."
那为什么叫“法国梧桐“呢？因为它的确与法国有些渊源。Why is it called " plane "? Because it does have something to do with France.
1872年，一位法国传教士在南京的石鼓路栽下了第一棵梧桐树。In 1872, a French missionary planted the first plane tree on Shigu Road in Nanjing.


新鲜事儿（Anecdote）

南京的梧桐树

此话不假。”都江堰”、这个世界水利文化的鼻祖，是一座屹立了超过2000年的水利建设的丰碑，今天仍在使用。That's true." Dujiangyan, the ancestor of the world's water conservancy culture, is a monument of water conservancy construction that has stood for more than 2,000 years and is still in use today.
它的建立，让成都平原变成了千里沃野,也使四川一跃成为“天府之国”。 Its establishment transformed the Chengdu Plain into a fertile field and made Sichuan a "land of abundance".
这是公元前276年（秦昭王后期）蜀郡守李冰组织岷江两岸人民、花了25年建成的。It was built in 276 BC by Li Bing, Governor of Shu County, who organized the people on both sides of the Minjiang River and took 25 years to build.


万事资灌溉

提起甘肃，人们脑海中很少会出现车水马龙的繁华或花红柳树的秀美。When it comes to Gansu, the bustling traffic and the beauty of red flowers and willows rarely appear in people's minds.
十有八九会浮现出很多历久弥新、脍炙人口的诗词佳句。Nine times out of ten, there will be a lot of old and popular poetry sentences.
比如：such as
《诗经》中有一首叫《蒹葭（jiān jiā）》的诗歌这样写道：There is a poem in the Book of Songs called "jian jia" that goes like this:
（《诗经》是中国最早的诗歌集，收集于西周初年至春秋中叶（即前11世纪至前6世纪）。The Book of Songs is the earliest poetry collection in China, which was collected from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn period. (i.e. from the 11th century BC to the 6th century BC）
蒹葭苍苍，白露为霜。Reeds green, white dew for frost.
所谓伊人，在水一方。The beautiful girl is on the other side of the water.


诗词中的甘肃

提起葡萄，您是想起了法国的波尔多、还是新疆的吐鲁番？When you think of grapes, do you think of Bordeaux in France or Turpan in Xinjiang Province?
生产葡萄的地方很多，仅国内就有七大栽培区，它们是：There are many places to produce grapes. There are seven growing areas in China alone. They are:
（1）西北产区：包括新疆、甘肃、宁夏、内蒙西部等；Northwest producing areas: Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, western Inner Mongolia, etc.
（2）黄土高原栽培区：包括陕西、山西，汉中等；Cultivation areas of Loess Plateau: Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hanzhong, etc.
（3）环渤海湾栽培区：包括河北、山东和京津地区以及辽宁等；Cultivation area around Bohai Bay: Hebei, Shandong, Beijing and Tianjin, Liaoning, etc.
（4）黄河故道栽培区：包括河南、山东鲁西南地区、江苏北部和安徽北部等；Old Yellow River cultivated areas: Henan, southwest Shandong, northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui, etc.
（5）南方栽培区：包括安徽、江苏、浙江、上海、重庆、湖北、湖南、江西、福建、广西等；Southern cultivation areas: Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangxi, etc.
（6）东北中北部栽培区：包括吉林、黑龙江等；North-central cultivation areas of Northeast China: Jilin, Heilongjiang;
（7）西南栽培区：包括云贵高原、川西高原及金沙江沿岸河谷地区。Southwest cultivation areas: Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, west Sichuan Plateau and Jinsha River valley.


莲花架下的奶葡萄

彝族有一个分支，叫撒尼人。The Yi nationality has a subgroup called the Sani people.
他们居住的地方叫阿着底。The name of the place where they lived was A zhuó dǐ.
撒尼人有一个古老而动人的传说，那就是：阿诗玛。Sani people have an old and moving legend, that is: Ashima.
阿诗玛是个好姑娘、是撒尼人的骄傲。Ashima was a good girl, the pride of the people of Sani.


阿诗玛的传说

陕西汉中有一道传统美食，梆梆面。There is a traditional delicacy in Hanzhong, Shaanxi province, Bang-bang noodle.
它选用麦子磨成的上等面粉精制而成。It is made of fine flour ground from wheat.
在古代、人们一般在早上三、四点钟时、就要在街边售卖，而且在制作的时候、伴有梆梆的敲击声，所以大家就称它为“梆梆面”。In ancient times, it was usually sell on the street at three or four o 'clock in the morning, and it was made with a bang-bang sound, so people called it "bang-bang noodle".
因此，这个面引出了一个特别有意思的象声字，如下图所示：Interestingly, the noodles have created a distinctive phonetic character, as shown below:


梆梆面

天冷了、跨年了，需要放松一下，你想去哪里？It's cold, New Year's Eve and you need to relax. Where do you want to go?
相信很多广东人的第一反应就是：“泡汤、泡温泉去。” I believe the first reaction of many Cantonese people is: "Soak in hot springs."
找一个安静的地方，让身体泡在温柔的泉水里、洗尽疲惫，这是一段美好的时光。It is a wonderful time to find a secret place where you can soak your body in a gentle warm spring water and wash away your exhaustion.


汤汤水水的生活

槐树是中国北方常见的一种树木，它树冠宽广、枝叶茂盛。Pagoda tree are common in northern China. They have broad crowns and lush branches.
    槐树全身都是宝，它的花蕾、果实、树皮、树叶等都可以入药。Pagoda  trees are full of treasure. Their buds, fruits, bark and leaves can be used as medicine.
槐树开花是很灿烂的。The pagoda tree is very brilliant in bloom.
