Euphrates poplars- The hero tree

Quotation from Premier Wen's Cambridge Speech:

我年輕時曾長期工作在中國的西北地區。在那浩瀚的沙漠中，生長著一種稀有的樹種，叫胡楊。它紮根地下50多米，抗乾旱、鬥風沙、耐鹽鹼，生命力極其頑強。它“生而一千年不死，死而一千年不倒，倒而一千年不朽”，世人稱為英雄樹。我非常喜歡胡楊，它是中華民族堅韌不拔精神的象徵。

Earlier in my career, I worked in northwest China for many years. There, in the boundless desert, grows a rare variety of tree called euphrates poplar. Rooted over 50 meters down the ground, they thrive in hostile environments, defying droughts, sandstorms and salinization. They are known as the hero tree, because a euphrates poplar can live for a thousand years. Even after it dies, it stands upright for a thousand years, and even after it falls, it stays intact for another thousand years. I like euphrates poplar because they symbolize the resilience of the Chinese nation.