荔枝最著名的故事与美女有关。中国历史上的四大美女，其中之一就是唐代皇帝李隆基的爱妃——杨贵妃。唐明皇和杨贵妃的爱情故事在中国家喻户晓。

　　It was told that there were four most famous beauties in ancient China, one of which was the Tang Dynasty Emperor Longji Lee’s (685-762) favorite concubine Yang Guifei (her child name was Yuhuan=Jade-ring). Most people know her romantic love in China’s history.

　　杨贵妃出生于719年，今山西永济人。她身材丰满 ，天生丽质 ，性格温柔，善解人意 ，从小就精通音乐 和舞蹈 ，17岁的时候成为唐玄宗第十八子寿王的王妃。唐玄宗宠爱的武惠妃病逝后，十分悲伤 ，见到倾国倾城 的杨贵妃后，便将她纳入宫中。有了杨贵妃的陪伴，唐玄宗渐渐疏于朝政。

　　Yang Guifei was born in today’s Yongji County, Shanxi Province, in 719. The girl was a little bit fat but extremely beautiful in appearance of bearing. She behaved in polite and lovely manner. From her childhood, she was good at singing and dancing, especially at pandering and catering in public or private surrounding. At first she was selected as a concubine of the Emperor’s son at her age of 17. However, the old emperor’s original concubine Wu Hui died and substituted by Yang years later. Actually, Yang became the first wife of the Emperor falling in love with her all day long. Although he was at the age of 61, still his mind and heart were full of the 27-year-old beauty. The Emperor had been lazy to manage public affairs every day since his favorite beauty joined his life.

　　唐玄宗整天沉迷于酒色，杨贵妃家族一时权力显赫 ，政治越来越腐败 ，边地将领势力逐渐增强，最后爆发 了“安史之乱”。756年，杨贵妃被士兵陕西兴平市西马嵬坡缢死。“安史之乱”时间持续7年之久，唐朝由强盛开始走向衰败。