Exhausted from work or school? Take a breather and enjoy the cherry blossoms.
工作或學業讓自己精疲力竭嗎？暫時休息一下，賞個櫻花。
Did you know Vancouver, Canada is well-known for its cherry blossoms?
你知道加拿大溫哥華是以櫻花聞名的嗎？
Vancouver’s love affair with cherry blossoms dates back to the 1930s, when the Japanese cities of Kobe and Yokohama gave the park board 500 trees to plant at the Japanese cenotaph in Stanley Park to honor Japanese Canadians who served in the First World War. In 1958, another 300 trees were donated by the Japanese consul.
溫哥華對櫻花的熱愛可溯及１９３０年代，當時日本神戶市與橫濱市提供了溫哥華公園局５００棵樹，種植在史丹利公園（Stanley Park）的日本紀念碑處，以紀念在第一次世界大戰中服役的日裔加拿大人。１９５８年，日本領事又捐贈了３００棵樹。
From that moment on, the popularity of ornamental cherry trees soared and Vancouver’s park board began planting more and more. By the 1990s, 36 percent of the city’s 89,000 street trees were varieties of flowering cherry or ornamental plum. (Whysall, 2013)
從那一刻起，觀賞用的櫻花樹（ornamental cherry trees）數量劇增，溫哥華公園局開始種植更多的櫻花樹。至１９９０年代，該市８９０００棵行道樹中有３６％是渦櫻花（flowering cherry）或觀賞用梅（ornamental plum）的變種。
Today, people from all around the world can enjoy these Cherry blossoms from late February to May.
今日，來自世界各地的人們可在２月下旬至５月期間，欣賞這些櫻花。
Here are some key vocabulary words:
🌸 the arrival of spring 春季的到來
🌸 a traditional Japanese garden 傳統日式花園
🌸 rows of blossoming trees 一排排花朵綻放的樹木
🌸 see cherry blossoms 看櫻花
🌸 cherry blossom viewing 賞櫻
🌸 sakura [ C ] plural sakura（日本）櫻花樹；[ U ] （日本）櫻花
🌸 flower buds 花芽
🌸 bloom (v.) 開花；綻放
🌸 in full bloom 盛開
🌸 pink and white blooms 開滿粉紅花與白花
🌸 different cultivars of cherry trees 櫻花樹的不同品種
🌸 have a picnic under the trees 在樹下野餐
🌸 drink some sake 喝些清酒
🌸 write a haiku 寫俳句
參考文獻:
Whysall, S. (2013, March 28). How Vancouver got to be cherry blossom heaven. Vancouver Sun. https://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/how-vancouver-got-to-be-cherry-blossom-heaven