Entertainment
(The O2, one of the largest domes in the world, originally built to celebrate the new millennium, this structure is now part of a reconstruction project and hosts many major events)
Within the City of Westminster, the West End brings together a number of attractions around Leicester Square, where many films are played in Britain and the world preview, and Piccadilly Circus and its electronic advertisements covering many buildings.
This area also includes London’s theater district which includes many cinemas, bars, pubs, nightclubs, restaurants and Chinatown in London. A little further in east is Covent Garden. Shoreditch and Hoxton, located in Hackney in the East End, also include many bars, restaurants, nightclubs and galleries. Upper Street, a street 2 km long of district of Islington, count more bars than any other street in the UK. This is also the first street to provide a wireless Internet access in its cafes.
(Bond Street, a main shopping streets of Mayfair, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Bond_Street_2_db.jpg)
Oxford Street, often cited as the longest shopping street in the world, has more than 300 shops in about 2 km from Marble Arch, and welcomes nearly 200 million customers annually. Bond Street in Mayfair is home to many luxury boutiques, as well as Knightsbridge where Harrods is located. Knightsbridge neighborhoods (Sloane Street), Mayfair (Bond Street, Brook Street) and Chelsea (King’s Road) bring together many designers and fashion boutiques including Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Stella McCartney, Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo. London is also home to many markets, including Camden Market for fashion, Portobello Road for antiques and Borough Market for organic products.
(The Albert, Victoria Street, one of the most famous pubs in London)
Arts
London is also home to many schools of performing arts as the Central School of Speech and Drama, where graduated Judi Dench and Laurence Olivier, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where were trained Jim Broadbent and Donald Sutherland among others, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, which has Joan Collins and Roger Moore among its alumni. The London Film Festival, organized by the British Film Institute, is held in the city every year in October.
London also plays an important role in the film industry. Four major studios are located in the city: Pinewood, Shepperton, Elstree and Leavesden, as well as many companies specializing in post-production and special effects. Many films have been made even in London: Notting Hill (1999) and 28 Days Later (2002), Match Point (2005). Sweeney Todd (2008) and especially the famous sagas Harry Potter (which took place between other in London King’s Cross station, for example) and James Bond (as in Skyfall in 2012).
Museums
London has a range of museums among the largest in the world. On account 240 (against 173 in Paris). It is also the city in the world with the largest number of galleries and art museums per capita. There are museums in all areas: art, science, history, leisure, etc. Some examples, among the best known: the British Museum (museum of history and human culture), the National Gallery (art museum), the Tate Modern (contemporary art museum), Victoria and Albert Museum ( British history museum), the museum of Natural history …
Music
London is a world capital of classical music and pop/rock. The city is the seat of one of four major record labels, EMI Group, and countless musicians, bands, orchestras and music professionals.
Classical music
(The Royal Albert Hall hosts many concerts)
Five professional orchestras are based in London: the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Many other bands are also located in the city: the Orchestra of the Enlightenment, the London Sinfonietta and the assemblies London Mozart Players and English Chamber Orchestra. The highlight of the classical season occurs every year in summer with The Proms, a series of 70 classical music concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.
Opera and ballet
London has two main opera houses: the Royal Opera House and the Coliseum Theatre. The Royal Ballet and the English National Ballet ballets occur in Royal Opera House, Sadler’s Wells Theatre and the Royal Albert Hall.
Pop/rock music
London is home to many pop/rock concert halls such Earls Court and Wembley Arena, the Brixton Academy or the Hammersmith Apollo, and countless more intimate rooms. Many artists live in London and the Home Counties surrounding. The city saw open the first Hard Rock Cafe and the famous Abbey Road Studios.
As the main city of the UK, London has played a major role in the birth of the various currents of urban, punk and electronic music, such as drum and bass, garage, grime and dubstep. Many British hip-hop artists also live in London.
In 2006, DJ Magazine published a survey of 600 international DJ who found that London was home to three of the best nightclubs in the world: Fabric, The End and Turnmills. In 2007, in a new survey, the Fabric was in second place and The End in fourth; six London clubs are in the top fifty places.
Translated from Wikipedia
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