l 黄鹤楼Yellow Crane Tower
黄鹤楼位于湖北省武汉市蛇山之巅。传说曾有道士在当地辛氏酒店的墙上画了一只会跳舞的黄鹤，店家生意因此大为兴隆。十年后道士故地重游，用笛声招下黄鹤，乘鹤飞去，辛氏遂出资建楼。但是，历代的考证都认为，黄鹤楼的名字是因为它建在黄鹄山上而取的。古代的“鹄”与“鹤”二字一音之转，互为通用，故名为“黄鹤楼”。
Yellow Crane Tower stands atop Snake Mountain in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. Legend goes that a Taoist priest painted a dancing yellow crane on the wall of Xin’s tavern, which greatly boosted the business here. A decade later the priest revisited the tavern and called down the crane by playing the flute and flew away on its back. Xin then built a tower here and named it after the yellow crane. However, textual research testifies that the tower gets this name as it perches on Yellow Crane Mountain.
黄鹤楼始建于三国223年，起初被用作军事瞭望塔。战后，其军事性质逐渐演变为著名的“游必于是，宴必于是”的旅游胜地。历代文人墨客到此游览，留下不少脍炙人口的诗篇，比如唐代诗人崔颢的名诗《黄鹤楼》。然而兵火频繁，历史上的黄鹤楼屡建屡毁，仅清代就遭到三次严重火灾，最后一座“清楼”建于清同治七年（公元1868年），毁于清光绪十年（公元1884年），此后近百年未曾重修。我们今天看到的是1981年动工，1985年落成的现代黄鹤楼。该楼以清代“同治楼”为原型设计，楼高5层，总高度51.4米，建筑面积3219平方米。黄鹤楼内部由72根圆柱支撑，外部有60个翘角向外伸展，屋面用10多万块黄色琉璃瓦覆盖构建而成。
Yellow Crane Tower was first built as a watchtower in 223 AD during the Three Kingdoms period. After the war, the tower lost its military value and gradually blossomed into a must-see spot. A large number of literati from various dynasties have visited here, leaving an abundance of famous poems, such as theYellow Crane Tower written by the poet Cui Hao of the Tang Dynasty. However, due to the countless wars and fires, the Yellow Crane Tower was demolished and rebuilt many times in history. It isin the Qing Dynasty alone that three serious fires occurred here. The last tower of the Qing Dynasty was constructed in 1868 AD and was reduced to ashes in 1884 AD. Since then, it has not been repaired for nearly a hundred years. What we see today is the modern Yellow Crane Tower, which was started in 1981 and completed in 1985. The building is based on the prototype of Tongzhi Tower in the Qing Dynasty. It is five-storied with a total height of 51.4m and the floorage of 3,219 square meters. The interior of Yellow Crane Tower is supported by 72 pillars, with 60 warping angles extending outward and the roof is covered with more than 100,000 yellow glazed tiles.
黄鹤楼整个建筑具有独特的民族风格，散发出中国传统文化的精神、气质和独特魅力。黄鹤楼和湖南的岳阳楼、江西的滕王阁并成为中国江南三大名楼，黄鹤楼现为国家5A级旅游景区。
The entire building of Yellow Crane Tower has a unique national style, which radiates the spirit, temperament and charm of Chinese traditional culture. Yellow Crane Tower belongs to the Three Great Pavilions in the south of the Yangtze River in China besides Yueyang Tower in Hunan Province and Prince Teng Pavilion in Jiangxi Province. It is now a national 5A tourist attraction.
l 热干面Hot Dry Noodles
热干面是武汉的汉族特色美食，起源于武汉后扩至湖北大部，继而又经湖北扩展到国内许多地方，是广受欢迎的面食之一。它可以与山西刀削面、河南烩面、四川担担面、北京炸酱面齐名并肩。
Originating in Wuhan and then expanding to most of Hubei and then to many parts of China, Hot Dry Noodles are one of the most popular noodles in China, which would be no less famous than Shanxi Daoxiao Noodles, Henan Braised Noodles, Sichuan Dandan Noodles and Beijing Zha Jiang Noodles.
在武汉的众多美食中，不能不提热干面，它已经和武汉融为一体，成为武汉的名片之一。热干面，顾名思义，是不带汤的拌面。正宗的热干面不需要添加过多的调料，爽滑劲道的碱水面，浓汁浇的老酱，加上点辣椒末、葱花、蒜末，再配上酸豆角就成了。油光闪烁、酱香淳厚，搅拌均匀后汇聚成一碗浓而不腻的风俗小吃，像极了质朴而又五味杂陈的生活。每天清早，来上一碗热干面配搭一杯热豆浆就能够有滋有味地品味了。热干面既不同于凉面，也不同于汤面，它的吃法讲究而又千变万化。讲究，是指从做面的师傅到原材料的选取都经过精挑细选，而千变万化是指热干面有着复杂繁多的调料配菜，人们可根据自己的喜好拌入合适的配菜和调料。也可以搭配其他的汤、蛋酒、牛奶、豆浆等，使得营养更加丰富，口味更加多样。
Among the many cuisines of Wuhan, it is impossible not to mention the Hot Dry Noodles, which have become a part of the city. It has become one of Wuhan’s calling cards. Hot Dry Noodles, as the name implies, are mixed noodles without soup. Authentic hot noodles do not need to be seasoned too much– smooth and strong lye noodle in a thick sauce, some minced chilies, chopped spring onions, minced garlic and some sour beans. The simmering oil and the aroma of the sauce are mixed to form a bowl of thick, unctuous snacks that resemble the simple and varied flavors of life. In the morning, a bowl of Hot Dry Noodles is served with a cup of hot soy bean milk and you can enjoy the taste. Unlike cold noodles or noodles in soup, Hot Dry Noodles can be eaten in a variety of ways. It is asophisticated dish in that the noodles are carefully selected from the chef who makes them to the raw materials used, while it is varied in that the noodles are served with a wide range of complex seasonings and side dishes, which can be mixed in to suit your own preferences. It can also be served with other soups,eggnog, milk and soya milk, making it even more nutritious and varied in taste.
据传，热干面是由20世纪30年代的一姓李的商贩将面条过油烘干，继而烫热加上多种佐料而成。1950年工商登记为“热干面”，如今也推陈出新由最初的三个主要的品种：叉烧热干面、全料热干面、虾米热干面，发展到如今八个品种，满足人们的味蕾，带来多样的选择。
Legend has it that Hot Dry Noodles were firstly made in the 1930s by a trader surnamed Li who dried them in oil and then heated them up with a variety of spices. The noodles were registered as“Hot Dry Noodles” in 1950 and have evolved from the original three main varieties: Hot Dry Noodles with barbecue pork, Hot Dry Noodles with whole ingredients and Hot Dry Noodles with shrimps, to the eight varieties that are now available to satisfy people’s taste buds and bring a variety of choices.
l 李时珍Li Shizhen
李时珍（1518-1593），字东壁，中国明朝著名的医学家、药学家和博物学家。李时珍的祖父是摇串铃行医的走方郎中，父亲李言闻，也是当地名医。由于家庭熏陶，李时珍从小就喜爱医药，但由于当时医者的社会地位不高，父亲李言闻希望他读书应考科举，并不鼓励他习医。而李时珍对医学的浓厚兴趣一直有增无减，他多次向父亲表明决心，后弃儒从医专心研究医药。
Li Shizhen (1518-1593), whose style name is Dongbi, was a famous Chinese medical scientist, pharmacist and naturalist of the Ming Dynasty. Li Shizhen’sgrandfather was a medical practitioner who traveled the countryside, and his father, Li Yanwen, was also a famous local doctor. Grown up in a medical family like this, he was really fond of medicine since he was a kid. However, his father wanted him to study for theimperial examinations and did not encourage him topractice medicine due to the low social status at the time. Li Shizhen’s keeninterests in medicines continued unabated, and he made his determination clear to his father several times, then heofficially devoted himself to medicine.
李时珍后来在行医实践中发现，历代医药书籍中对“本草”记录不仅不完善，还有很多错误。他便立志将本草进行整理补充，写出一本更详细的药物学著作。自此，李时珍走遍了全国各地，尝遍了无数植物药材，最终历经26年完成了中国历史上最为伟大的医学著作——《本草纲目》。全书记载药物1900余种，详细记载了这些药物的采集、炮制、特性、治疗病症，并全部附有手绘插图，书中还收录经检验有效的方剂11000多则。
Later in his medical practice, Li discovered that the old records of the medicinal materials were not only imperfect but also full of errors. He then decided to collate and supplement them to compose a more detailed work on pharmacology. Since then, it has taken Li Shizhen 26 years to travel all over the country for survey, to taste countless herbs for testing. Then he finallycompleted the greatest medical work in Chinesehistory,Compendium of Materia Medica. The book records more than 1,900 kinds of medicines, detailing their collection, production, properties and usages for diseases treatment, all with hand-painted illustrations, including more than 11,000 prescriptions that have been tested to be effective.
《本草纲目》发行后迅速传入日本、朝鲜以及东南亚一带，几十年后又传入欧洲、北美，并被翻译成几十种文字，成为世界医学史上的权威书籍。英国进化论创始人达尔文把这部书称为“中国古代的百科全书”。而它的意义，其实不需要用传播范围和名声赞誉加以肯定，它的出现已经拯救了无数人的生命，直到现在仍然继续。
Compendium of Materia Medica quickly spread to Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia after its release, and decades later to Europe and North America. It has been translated into dozens of languages and became the authoritative book in the history of world medicine. Darwin, originator of the theory of evolution, referred to the book as the“encyclopedia of ancient China”. Its significance does not need to be confirmed by the extend of its communication or the praise it has received since it has saved countless lives since its release and continues to do so to this day.