如果说，英国的文化之都在首都伦敦，这是可以理解的，因为英女王住那里，又有多个著名美术馆，甚至还有一座看起来像城堡的桥梁——伦敦塔桥。

If the capital of British culture is in London, it is understandable that the queen lives there, there are many famous art galleries and even a bridge that looks like a castle - the tower bridge in London.

浓厚文化的伦敦建筑随处可见，是谁都会认为伦敦就是英国的文化城。

The buildings of London with strong culture can be seen everywhere. Anyone will think that London is the cultural city of England.

不过，真的是这样吗？其实英国真正的文化之都，是其第二大城市曼彻斯特。这座城市从中古世纪时的一个庄园乡镇，迅速发展成19世纪初的世界首个工业化城市，再进一步发展转变成如今的国际都市的大城市。

But is that really the case? In fact, the real cultural capital of Britain is its second largest city, Manchester. This city developed rapidly from a manor town in the middle ancient century to the first industrialized city in the world at the beginning of the 19th century, and then further developed into a big city of international city.

作为英格兰北部的科技中心和金融中心，曼彻斯特拥有完善的交通和基础设施，一点都不输首都伦敦。这么一个国际大都市，为什么说是英国的文化之都呢？

As the technology center and financial center in the north of England, Manchester has perfect transportation and infrastructure, which is not inferior to the capital London at all. Why is such an international metropolis the capital of British culture?

最潮的乐坛

The most popular music arena

曼彻斯特市英国最前卫思想的发源地，也因此诞生很多世界著名的乐队，包括Beatles、JoyDivision和OASIS。

Manchester is the birthplace of the most avant-garde ideas in the UK, which also gave birth to many famous bands in the world, including Beatles, JoyDivision and OASIS.

在这里成立了43年的皮卡迪利唱片（Piccadilly Records），依然是曼城音乐文化的亮点，音乐爱好者能在这里按照自己的方式浏览、购买、聆听和体验音乐。

Piccadilly records, which has been established for 43 years, is still the highlight of Manchester City music culture. Music lovers can browse, buy, listen and experience music in their own way.

唱片里的音乐作品风格类型多元，独立摇滚、迪斯科、爵士等，只能说这里的好东西、好作品、好音乐是没有你找不到的，只有你想不到。

The music works in the record are of various styles, such as independent rock, disco, jazz, etc. only if you can't find the good things, good works and good music here, only you can't think of it.

由于音乐是曼城的生活方式，除了在家和唱片店自己享受音乐，当然也少不了到音乐场馆与朋友们一起嗨，所以在这里有很多体育馆被作为音乐场馆。

Because music is the life style of Manchester City, besides enjoying music at home and record store, there are certainly no less music venues and friends. So there are many gymnasiums here as music venues.

就好像曼彻斯特体育馆就是欧洲同类型场馆中最大的流行音乐活动的举办场地，可容纳超过2000人。

Just as Manchester stadium is the venue for the largest pop music event of its kind in Europe, it can accommodate more than 2000 people.

另外，阿里哈德体育馆和老特拉福德板球场也能在体育休赛期作为临时露天音乐场馆。

In addition, alihard stadium and Old Trafford cricket stadium can also be used as temporary open-air music venues during the sports break.

最古老、历史最悠久的美术馆

The oldest and oldest art gallery

作为英国的文化创意产业中心，曼彻斯特城内有众多的美术馆或画廊，其中最著名、最古老的艺术机构就是惠特沃斯美术馆。

As the cultural and creative industry center of the UK, there are many art galleries or galleries in Manchester City, among which the most famous and oldest art institution is the Whitworth art gallery.

美术馆第一座大楼在1908年竣工，政府于2015年耗资1500万英镑（折合约人民币1.34亿元）进行再开发工程，新增了一条俯视艺术花园的玻璃走廊，为美术馆打造更开放、更参与式，且欢迎气息浓厚的空间。

The first building of the art museum was completed in 1908. The government invested £ 15million (equivalent to about 134million yuan) in 2015 to carry out redevelopment projects, and added a glass corridor overlooking the art garden to create a more open and participatory space for the art museum, and it also enjoys a strong welcome atmosphere.

全球著名艺术家如戴维霍克尼（David Hockney）、毕加索（Pablo Picasso）、文森特梵高（Vincent Van Gogh），他们一些作品也存放在这座美术馆内，馆内的常驻收藏区还展出各类艺术品、纺织品和壁纸。

Famous artists such as David Hockney, Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh are also located in the museum, and the permanent collection of the museum also displays various types of art, textiles and wallpaper.

这座曾在2015年被授予“年度博物馆”奖的美术馆，为其约440,000名游客提供令人难以置信的收藏品。

The gallery, which was awarded the Museum of the year award in 2015, offers incredible collections to some 440000 visitors.

在曼彻斯特怎么可能只有一座美术馆呢？

How can there be only one art gallery in Manchester?

如果说惠特沃斯美术馆是最古老的艺术机构，那么位于唐人街以北的曼彻斯特美术馆，就是拥有历史最悠久的美术馆。它建于1823年，是曼彻斯特市美术馆的前身，由三座相连的建筑物组成。

If the Whitworth gallery is the oldest art institution, the Manchester Gallery, north of Chinatown, is the oldest. Built in 1823, it is the predecessor of the Manchester City Museum of art and consists of three connected buildings.

画廊收藏了巨大的艺术品，有水彩画、油画、现代和古代的装饰物；著名画家保罗塞尚（Paul Cézanne）、约瑟夫·玛罗德·威廉·特纳（Joseph Mallord William Turner）和约翰·威廉姆·沃特豪斯（John William Waterhouse）的经典画作都挂在这座美术馆的大厅里。

The gallery has a collection of huge works of art, including watercolor, oil painting, modern and ancient decorations; Paul C, a famous painter é The classic paintings of zanne, Joseph Mallord William Turner and John William Waterhouse are all hanging in the hall of the gallery.

最顶级的艺术中心

The top art center

曼彻斯特市中心的多功能艺术中心HOME，可以说是这个文化城内最新的艺术中心。这个耗资2500万英镑（折合约人民币2.23亿元）的项目，包含一个可容纳500人的剧场、灵活的工作室空间和5个银幕，为顾客提供了从音乐到戏剧，从电影到录音室的各种娱乐。

HOME, the multifunctional art center in the center of Manchester, is the latest art center in the cultural city. The £ 25m (equivalent to about 223million) project, which includes a theatre with 500 people, flexible studio space and five screens, provides customers with entertainment from music to theatre, from movies to recording rooms.

自2015年开业以来就已经吸引大咖顾客，包括导演丹尼博伊尔（Danny Boyle）、英国著名乐团“创世纪”的灵魂人物——鼓手兼前奏者菲尔柯林斯（Phil Collins）。

Since its opening in 2015, it has attracted customers of big currants, including director Danny Boyle and the soul figure of the famous British Orchestra "Genesis" - drummer and Prelude Phil Collins.

值得一提的是，该中心在2019年的节目挤满了有趣且令人振奋的展览，其中奥斯卡导演大卫林奇（David Lynch）的画廊就在这里举办。

It is worth noting that the center's 2019 show is packed with interesting and exciting exhibitions, where the gallery of Oscar director David Lynch is held.

最具活力的庆典

The most dynamic celebration

全球最早关于独创、新作品和特殊活动的艺术节，无疑是两年一度的曼彻斯特国际艺术节，自2007年创办以来以展出跨领域创作著称。

The world's first art festival on originality, new works and special activities is undoubtedly the biennial Manchester International Art Festival. Since its inception in 2007, it has been famous for exhibiting interdisciplinary creation.

照片取自《曼彻斯特晚报》网站

Photo taken from the website of Manchester Evening News

来自全球各地的著名音乐家、视觉与表演艺术家等，都会受邀前来展示自己的原创新作品，并让各个艺术领域的艺术家们，以前瞻性的视野、独特的想象力和出色的商业协谈能力，促成大量难得一间的跨界合作艺术作品。

Famous musicians, visual and performing artists from all over the world will be invited to show their original and new works, and let artists in various art fields, with forward-looking vision, unique imagination and excellent business negotiation ability, contribute to a large number of rare cross-border cooperative art works.

这场全城盛事，每一届都会吸引数十万来自世界各地的观众，自创办以来就引起强烈的反响，还因此被《纽约客》杂志评为“现今最重要的艺术节”，将曼城带上了国际舞台。

This event, each of which attracts hundreds of thousands of audiences from all over the world, has aroused strong repercussions since its inception. It has been rated as "the most important art festival of the day" by new Yorker magazine, bringing city to the international stage.

最佳图书馆的家乡

Home to the best Library

曼彻斯特拥有24家图书馆，其中曼彻斯特中央图书馆最为著名，是当地市民休闲的理想场所。

There are 24 libraries in Manchester, among which the Manchester central library is the most famous and is an ideal place for local people to relax.

这家图书馆于1934年首次向公众开放，也是英国除伯明翰图书馆以外，最大的公共图书馆。

The library was first opened to the public in 1934 and the largest public library in the UK, except for the Birmingham library.

馆内珍藏着大量宝贵的古籍，其中包括莎士比亚全集1632年第二对开本、12世纪罗马皇帝查士丁尼下令编纂的《国法大典》的手抄本、张爱玲的小说等。

There are a lot of precious ancient books in the museum, including Shakespeare's second edition in 1632, the manual copy of the great code of national law ordered by Justinian, the Roman emperor in the 12th century, Zhang Ailing's novels, etc.

据说这里所有书架相连长度超过20英里，可想而知这里的书籍非常多，散发着浓浓的书香。

It is said that all bookshelves here are connected for more than 20 miles, and it is conceivable that there are many books and strong fragrance of books.

此外，曼彻斯特还有很多富有各自独特魅力和特色的图书馆，就如切塔姆图书馆是英语世界中最老的公共图书馆、柱廊图书馆是一颗代表新古典主意的宝石，里面装满了积满灰尘的书本，以及约翰赖兰德图书馆是曼彻斯特最引人注目的图书馆，其建筑外观看起来更像是一个城堡或教堂。

In addition, there are many libraries in Manchester with their own unique charm and characteristics. For example, the chetam library is the oldest public library in the English world, the colonnade library is a gem representing neoclassical ideas, which is filled with dusty books, and the John Rylands library is the most eye-catching Library in Manchester. Its architectural appearance looks more like a castle or church.