Euphrates poplars- The hero tree

Quotation from Premier Wen's Cambridge Speech:

我年轻时曾长期工作在中国的西北地区。在那浩瀚的沙漠中，生长着一种稀有的树种，叫胡杨。它扎根地下50多米，抗干旱、斗风沙、耐盐碱，生命力极其顽强。它“生而一千年不死，死而一千年不倒，倒而一千年不朽”，世人称为英雄树。我非常喜欢胡杨，它是中华民族坚韧不拔精神的象征。

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.