Introduction to Australia’s attractions

Sydney Opera House

Opera House, Sydney

A large comprehensive theatrical performance center in Sydney, Australia, it is famous for its unique architectural image. It was built on a section of Sydney Harbor that extends into the sea, facing water on three sides. It was designed by Danish architect J. Utzon. Construction started in 1959 and was completed in 1973. The opera house includes two large and small concert halls, an opera hall and a theater, and has more than 900 ancillary rooms for rehearsals, receptions, exhibitions, etc., which can provide complete equipment and excellent sound quality. It is a successful music and drama performance building. The appearance of the opera house is three groups of huge shells, like sails and blooming flowers on the sea. Set against the blue sky, blue sea and green trees, it is graceful, light and bright.

Sydney Harbor Bridge

Sydney Harbor Bridge

Australia's long-span steel arch bridge. Located in Sydney Harbour, it was built from 1924 to 1932. The bridge has a total length of 1149.1 meters and a main span of 503 meters. It ranks third among the arch bridges in the world, but has a large bearing capacity. The bridge type is a double-hinged mid-support truss arch. The height of the arch truss is 18.29 meters at the top of the arch and 57.25 meters at the foot of the arch. The middle distance between the two arch ribs is 30 meters. A 17.4-meter-wide roadway is set up along the center line of the bridge, and a tram line is set up on both sides of each arch rib (***4 in the whole bridge, two of which were converted to roadways in 1959). There are two sidewalks. The total width of the bridge deck is 48.8 meters. There are bridgeheads and 5-hole steel beam approach bridges at each end of the main bridge. The total steel consumption of the whole bridge is 520,000 tons, of which 380,000 tons are used in the arch bridge. The arch bridge is erected by the cantilever method from both sides, without the use of temporary towers. Instead, the anchor cables are directly tied to the upper chord ends of the arch until the arch is closed and dismantled.

Sydney

Sydney

Australia's largest city, port, and capital of New South Wales. It is located on the southeast coast of the mainland, bounded by the Tasman Sea to the east, the eastern foothills of the Blue Mountains to the west, Broken Bay to the north, and Port Hacking to the south. Area is 4074 square kilometers. The population is approximately 3.31 million.

Map: Sydney

Natural overview The coast near the city is winding and has many harbors. Port Jackson, on the edge of the city center, is the remnant of the subsidence estuary of the Parramatta River. It is a rare natural harbor with deep water, wide harbor and hidden location. Rivers and harbours divide the greater Sydney urban area into northern and southern parts. The southern part is a slightly undulating lowland, and the height gradually increases towards the south, reaching more than 150 meters above sea level after crossing Botany Bay. The north is higher hilly land, and the southern shore of Broken Bay is above 210 meters above sea level. The western part of the urban area consists of gentle rolling hills, gradually transitioning to the Blue Mountains. The harbor is deep inland, the harbor is winding and broken, and there are many rivers and streams. This terrain feature is not conducive to the transportation construction of large urban areas, but the surrounding area is relatively open, which is very beneficial to the city's outward expansion. The climate is warm and humid, with an average annual temperature of 17.4°C. The average temperature in the hottest month (February) is 22.0°C, and the coldest month (July) is 11.9°C. However, severe frosts sometimes occur in the west and southwest of large urban areas. The average annual precipitation is 1215 mm, which is evenly distributed throughout the year. There is plenty of sunshine, with an average of 6 or 7 hours of sunshine per day.

The urban settlement was founded in January 1788, when the first batch of exiles sent by the British landed here, and the landing bay was named Sydney Bay (today's north of the city center). small harbor). There were 1,030 officials, soldiers, family members and prisoners left behind after the landing, constituting the initial settlers of the Australian colony. Development was slow in the next 30 to 40 years. From the 1830s to the 1840s, due to the prosperity of wheat planting and cattle raising in the nearby areas, business became increasingly prosperous. In 1842, the city was restructured to form the prototype of the current city of Sydney. At that time, the population was about 30,000 and the area was about 4 square kilometers. The railway was accessible in 1855, the urban underground railway was built in 1926, and the Harbor Bridge was built in 1932. The city developed rapidly. In the early 1970s, Sydney was larger than Melbourne.

Economy Before World War II, Sydney had only light industries such as textiles, food, sawmilling, tanning, and brewing, and a few machine manufacturing and metallurgical industries. During and after the Second World War, heavy industry developed rapidly and it became the largest industrial and commercial city in the country. There are now more than 10,000 factories and enterprises, distributed in: ① Around the central business district, there are clothing, furniture, food processing, printing, Small factories such as light machinery. ②In the south of the city and north of Botany Bay, there are factories for petroleum refining, steel, machinery, papermaking, textiles, chemicals, paints, and plastics. ③In the upper reaches of the Parramatta River in the west, there are factories such as railway machinery, rubber products, agricultural machinery, and automobile manufacturing. ④ Along the southwest and northwest directions on the west side of the main highway line, there are food processing, light machinery and other factories. ⑤Gangbin District has sugar, sawmill, gas and other factories. Modern large factories are mainly located in the emerging Botany Bayan and industrial areas in the western part of the urban area.

Sydney Port is the world's first-class port. The port area is on the south shore of Port Jackson, 8 kilometers away from the seaport. The water depth of the main channel at low tide is 12.8 meters.

The dock area is close to the city center, has 120 berths and an 18-kilometer-long loading and unloading area, and has modern port facilities. Imports are mainly petroleum products, followed by timber and daily groceries. Exports coal, wool and wheat. It is also an important passenger port. After the Second World War, in order to meet the development needs of the new industrial zone in the south, a new port was built nearby on the north shore of Botany Bay. Its main channel has a water depth of 19.8 meters at low tide and can accommodate giant ships of 200,000 tons. From 1979 to 1980, the international and domestic trade cargo throughput of Sydney and Botany Bay reached 28.8 million tons. Sydney has excellent external transportation, with highways reaching Newcastle in the north, the steel city of Wollongong in the south, and the coal cities of Lithgow and Bathurst in the west, and connects to all parts of the country. There are many domestic and international air routes. The international airport is located in Mascot on the north shore of Botany Bay in the southeast of the city. It is the largest airport in the country.

Culture The city's central business district is on the south shore of Port Jackson. The area between the Circular Pier of Bayside in the north, Central Railway Station in the south, Dorman Park in the east, and Darling Harbor in the west is home to government agencies, large department stores, various financial and trade institutions, and entertainment venues. Gathering downtown. There are many excellent beaches along the coast from Broken Bay to Port Hecken, and surfing here is world-famous. The city preserves Victorian buildings built in the 19th century. The sail-like building of the Sydney Opera House at Benelong Point has become a symbol of the city. The Harbor Bridge and Gladwell Bridge span the north and south sides of the Parramatta River. Sydney Harbor Bridge is a road and railway bridge with a main bridge span of 503 meters and a total length of 1,149 meters of approach bridge. It is the longest single-hole steel bridge in the world. The city houses the University of Sydney, which was established in 1805, as well as the Natural History Museum, National Gallery of Art, etc. There are many green spaces, including the Royal National Park in the south of the city and natural garden areas such as Kulingai Hunting Land in the north of the city.

Melbourne

Melbourne

Australia's second largest city and the capital of Victoria. Overseas Chinese call it Xinjinshan. It is located in the estuary area where the Yarra River flows into Port Phillip Bay in the southeastern part of the mainland. The city covers an area of ??1,300 square kilometers and has a population of approximately 2.84 million, accounting for 71% of the state's population. Among the residents, there are immigrants from 40 countries and regions, among whom Greeks, Italians, Yugoslavs are the most numerous, and there are also a small number of overseas Chinese.

Melbourne Cityscape

The city is strategically located. The Yarra River connects to Port Phillip Bay, the largest and most excellent port in the southern part of the mainland. It not only provides industrial and civil water sources, but also has excellent navigation conditions. In addition, the wide coastal plain facilitates the expansion of the city. Located halfway from the west to the southeastern coast of the state, it is also an important maritime transportation hub. About 120 kilometers to the north is Kilmore Pass, a natural passage into the fertile Murray River Valley. The climate is pleasant, with an annual average temperature of 14.8°C, an average temperature of 20°C in the hottest month (February), and an average temperature of 9.5°C in the coldest month (July). The highest temperature in summer occasionally reaches 37°C, and the lowest temperature in winter is below 2°C. The average annual precipitation is 659 mm, and the sunshine is also abundant. In addition, its proximity to the state's western goldfields provided much of the wealth for the city's early development during the gold mining boom of the mid-19th century.

It has a different development history from other major cities in Australia, that is, it is not a colony designated by the government, but a settlement built by "free citizens". Around 1834, European immigrants came from Tasmania to "purchase" land from the original residents. They established a town in 1842 and a city in 1847. From 1901 to 1927, it was the temporary capital of the Federation. During the two world wars and since 1945, manufacturing has developed rapidly. The city continued to expand with the influx of British and European immigrants.

The industry is developed, mainly including agricultural machinery, mining machinery, railway locomotives, automobiles, aircraft, electric power equipment, electrical appliances, chemicals and petrochemicals, construction steel, wool and cotton textiles, paper making, food processing and other industrial sectors . More than 80% of industrial enterprises are concentrated in the central area of ??the city, and most of the heavy industries are located in South Melbourne and the Port of Melbourne on the north shore of the harbor. North Melbourne, Carlton, Fitzroy, and Collingwood in the north of the city, and Williamstown in the west of the city are also centers for a variety of industries. In recent years, large-scale industries have mostly developed in outer suburban towns. There are huge car manufacturers and breweries in the Broadmeadows area in the north. In the southeastern suburbs of Moorabbin, Oakley, Dandenong and other places, new construction projects ranging from heavy trucks to cans have been built. Food and other various factories. In addition, there are automobile manufacturing and aircraft assembly plants near the mouth of the Yarra River, a large oil refinery in the Altona area west of the mouth of the river, and a steelmaking plant on the shore of the Westport Bay.

The city has well-developed external transportation, with shipping and air lines connecting the country and the world. The port is busy, with a total throughput of 18.5 million tons from 1979 to 1980. There are three ports in the port area: ① The central area along the Yarra River is mainly a domestic trade port. ② The Port of Melbourne, located on the shores of Hobson Bay, is mainly an international trade port. ③Williamstown, south of the mouth of the Yarra River, is a shipping port for grain and other primary products. Tullamarine Airport, located in the northwest of the city, is the second largest international airport in the country. Highways connect the country.

The urban area is centered on the north bank of the Yarra River, with wide and neat roads and many green spaces. The Botanical Garden on the South Bank is famous for its wide variety of tree species. The city has the Olympic Stadium, the National Museum, the art gallery with rich collections and the University of Melbourne founded in 1853.

There is a famous bathing beach in St. Kilda in the southeast of the city. The Yarra Valley in the eastern suburbs of the city and the Dandilong Mountains in the southeast of the city are both beautiful mountain resorts.