Characters: 返老还童 
Pronunciation: fan(3) lao(3) huan(2) tong(2)

Explanation: A figure of speech to describe someone has youthful vigor at an old age.

Tone: Positive

The Story: In the Western Han Dynasty, Duke of Huainan, Liu An, was always trying to find a way to keep himself young. One day, there are 8 old men who came to visit him. They said they had the secret of 'being young forever' and would like to tell him. When the doorman told him this, Liu An said: "They themselves are all old and how can they help me to be young? That is an obvious cheat. Let them go."

Then the doorman went out and transferred Liu An's words. After the 8 old men hearing this, they changed themselves into children and asked in laughter: "Can we enter now?"

Usage Example (Pinyin): Hen(3) duo(1) ren(2) shuo(1) wo(3) ye(2) ye tui(4) xiu(1) hou(4) fan(3) lao(3) huan(2) tong(2) le.

Usage Example (English translation): Many People say my grandpa comes back to youth after his retirement.

Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those above where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms newsletter with a good offline study program.

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