曼徹斯特——八面威風的城市

Manchester， or Madchester， is a place where the people are livelier than any boxer before a fight. The place is infused with an undeniable feeling of attitude and pride.

Manchester city can be found in the North West of England. The city has around half a million people living in it， however， including its suburbs and surrounding towns the total number is more like 2.2 million （tiny numbers in comparison to Chinese cities?。?/p>

But what is so great about Manchester？ If we are talking about Britain， why not talk about London or Edinburgh. Just what is the big deal？ When I was 22， I lived there for 12 months， but I have been making shopping trips with friends and family twice a week ever since I could walk.

Lets begin with a little bit of dirt and grime. At around the beginning of the 19th century and during the Industrial Revolution， Manchester boomed and as a result became the first industrialised city in the world… basically the first place where factories were manufacturing lots of things. Thats a pretty interesting fact！

From dirt and grime， music must be next. Here are just a few of Mancunians sons you may know： Oasis； The Bee Gees； The Smiths； Joy Division； The Stone Roses； The Happy Mondays… the list just goes on and on and on. It is also home to two of the worlds greatest football teams： Manchester United and Manchester City （Manchester United of course being better?。? It wouldnt be a bad idea to check out a game at Old Trafford （Manchester Uniteds football ground） whilst youre there… it is where superstar David Beckham got started.

The problem is that there is just so much to do in the Rainy City that this short article couldnt possibly fit everything in that one can do！

So Ive decided to tell you about my favourite places； those that I first visited when I realised how great a city Manchester is.

Ready for some action？… Imperial War Museum North

Those who like guns and things that explode usually like war museums， but Daniel Libeskinds amazing Imperial War Museum North is like nothing you will have ever seen before in your life！

The museum covers the main battles of the 20th century through a broad selection of displays， but the really awesome bit comes every half-hour when the entire museum goes dark and one of three 15-minute films（Children and War， The War at Home or Weapons of War） is shown on the walls. Visitors are encouraged to walk around the darkened rooms so as to get the most out of the crazy atmosphere that is created.

Although the displays are very informative， the extraordinary metal building itself is a huge part of the attraction， and the exhibition spaces are absolutely amazing. Libeskind designed three main different areas that represent the three main theatres of war： air， land and sea.

Is there a bookworm inside you？… John Rylands Library

An easy candidate for the best building in town， this marvellous （and scary looking） Victorian Gothic library was a beautiful way for Mr. John Rylands wife to remember her husband after hed died.

Less a library and more a cathedral to books， it is probably the most beautiful library in Britain—although theres not much argument when youre standing in the stunning Gothic “Reading Room，” complete with high ceilings and pretty stained-glass windows.

Its such a breathtaking building that you could easily miss the magnificent collection of old books and rare manuscripts. A real treat for all you bookworms out there！

Speak of the devil.（Another name for the Manchester United team is the Red Devils.）

Home of the worlds most famous club， the Old Trafford stadium is both a theatre and a temple for its millions of fans from all over the world， many of whom come to the ground to pay tribute to the god-like footballers that play there.

Oddly enough， Manchester United are not as popular in Manchester as their cross-town rivals Manchester City， whose fans believe that Manchester Uniteds success only comes from having lots of money behind them！

A visit to the stadium is definitely one of the more memorable things to do in Manchester. I recommend that you take the tour， which includes a seat in the stands， a stop in the changing rooms， a peek at the players lounge （from which the manager is banned unless invited by players） and a walk down the tunnel to the pitch side dugout， which is as close to heaven as many of the clubs fans will ever get. Its pretty cool stuff！

The museum， which is part of the tour but can be visited independently， has a detailed history of the club， and a state-of-the-art call-up system that means you can view your favourite goals—as well as have a “chat”with Sir Alex Ferguson.

Its a shame that I can only talk so briefly about a place I love so much！ Manchester is such an exciting place to visit.

Unlike London， it is always best enjoyed by foot. In fact， I am at my happiest in life when I am walking along one of the many canals that run through the centre. I love looking up at the buildings and the pavements whilst one of my favourite Mancunian bands is blaring in my ears… usually Oasis！

Like what Stone Rosess Ian Brown once said，“Manchester has everything except a beach.”

曼徹斯特（或者叫“Madchester”）人比任何一個比賽前的拳擊手都要有沖勁。這個地方洋溢著一種無可爭辯的態(tài)度感和自豪感。

曼徹斯特城位于英格蘭西北部，約有50萬人在這個城市生活。不過，如果算上郊區(qū)和周邊城鎮(zhèn)，其人口總數(shù)可達220多萬（和中國的城市比起來還是小巫見大巫了！）。

曼徹斯特到底好在哪里？如果我們要談英國，難道不是應該從倫敦或者愛丁堡說起嗎？曼徹斯特到底有什么過人之處呢？我22歲的時候在這里住了12個月；但自從會走路開始，我會每周兩次與朋友和家人到城里購物。

我們先從它沾滿灰塵和油垢的發(fā)家史說起吧。曼徹斯特大約從19世紀初和工業(yè)革命期間開始蓬勃發(fā)展，并由此成為世界上第一個工業(yè)化城市……可以說是世界上第一個通過工廠生產(chǎn)各種東西的地方。這是一個非常有趣的事實！

說完了灰塵和油垢，接下來要說的肯定就是音樂了。你可能知道一些來自曼徹斯特的音樂巨星，這里只列舉一小部分：綠洲樂隊、比吉斯樂隊、史密斯樂隊、快樂分隊、石玫瑰樂隊、快樂星期一樂隊……還可以繼續(xù)列舉出無數(shù)的名字。

曼徹斯特還擁有世界上其中兩支最偉大的足球隊—曼聯(lián)隊和曼城隊（曼聯(lián)當然更好一些?。Ｈ绻阍诼鼜厮固?，到老特拉福德球場（曼聯(lián)的足球場）看一場球賽會是不錯的主意。足球巨星大衛(wèi)·貝克漢姆就是從這里走出去的。

問題是，在這座“雨城”可以做的事情如此多，這篇短短的文章不可能統(tǒng)統(tǒng)囊括！

所以，我決定給大家介紹一些我最喜歡的地方；我當年最早去過的地方讓我意識到曼徹斯特是一個多好的城市。

準備好行動了嗎？—帝國戰(zhàn)爭博物館北館

喜歡槍支和爆炸物的人通常也喜歡戰(zhàn)爭博物館，而丹尼爾·利伯斯金（設計）的帝國戰(zhàn)爭博物館北館絕對是你前所未見的！

這座博物館通過廣泛的展品，涵蓋了20世紀的主要戰(zhàn)役，但真正令人難忘之處在于每半小時，整個博物館就會熄燈，在墻壁上放映三部各長15分鐘的電影（《兒童與戰(zhàn)爭》、《家庭戰(zhàn)爭》或《戰(zhàn)爭武器》）中的一部。博物館鼓勵參觀者在黑暗的房間里走動，最大程度地感受館內(nèi)營造的瘋狂氣氛。

雖然展品的信息量很大，不過，博物館那不同尋常的金屬建筑本身就是一大亮點，其內(nèi)部的展覽空間實在令人驚嘆。利伯斯金設計了三個不同的區(qū)域，代表海、陸、空三個主要戰(zhàn)區(qū)。

你是一個書蟲嗎？—約翰·賴蘭茲圖書館

這座宏偉（盡管外表有點駭人）的維多利亞時代哥特式圖書館是曼徹斯特最佳建筑的有力候選者。約翰·賴蘭茲先生的妻子便以這一美麗的方式緬懷亡夫。

比起圖書館，它更像是一個書籍的大教堂。它也許是英國最美的圖書館—當你站在有著高高的天花板和漂亮彩色玻璃窗的哥特式“閱覽室”時，大概沒有多少人會提出異議吧。

這座建筑是如此令人驚嘆，以至于你可能很容易就錯過那些蔚為壯觀的古舊藏書和珍貴手稿。這里一定能讓身為書蟲的你大飽眼福！

說魔魔就到。（曼聯(lián)隊別名叫“紅魔”。）

世界上最著名的足球俱樂部—曼聯(lián)的老家就在老特拉福球場。對世界各地數(shù)百萬球迷來說，它既是一個劇場，又是一座圣殿。許多球迷親赴現(xiàn)場，向他們奉為神明的球員致敬。

奇怪的是，曼聯(lián)隊在曼徹斯特本地的人氣還比不上它位于同一座城市另一端的對手—曼城隊。在曼城的球迷看來，曼聯(lián)的成功只是因為他們背后有大筆的金錢撐腰！

在曼徹斯特，最難忘的事情之一當然是參觀老特拉福球場了。我建議你參加旅游團，當中內(nèi)容包括在看臺上坐一坐，參觀更衣室和球員休息室（除非受到球員的邀請，否則經(jīng)理是禁止進入休息室），還有穿過隧道走到球場邊的球員休息席，這對很多紅魔球迷而言簡直就是最接近天堂的地方。真是太酷了！

足球博物館是行程的一部分，不過可以單獨參觀。那里有紅魔俱樂部的詳細歷史，還有最先進的傳呼系統(tǒng)——這意味著你可以觀看你最喜愛的進球鏡頭，還能與亞歷克斯·弗格森爵士“聊天”。

曼徹斯特是一個如此令人激動的地方。我熱愛這個城市，卻只能這么簡短地稍作介紹，實在可惜。

和倫敦不同，游覽曼徹斯特的最佳方式是徒步游覽。事實上，當我沿著貫穿市中心的某一條運河散步時，便是我生命中最快樂的時刻。我喜歡一邊聽著我最愛的曼徹斯特樂隊——通常是綠洲樂隊——在我耳中嘶吼，一邊抬頭欣賞那些建筑物和人行道。

就像石玫瑰樂隊的伊恩·布朗曾經(jīng)說過的那樣：“除了一片海灘，曼徹斯特擁有一切?！?/p>