For visitors， Chicago offers the Art Institute of Chicago and a wide range of excellent museums (many of which have one day of free admission per week)， restaurants， sports and highbrow cultural activities. However， its strongest suit is live music， with a phenomenal array of jazz and blues clubs packed into the back rooms of its amiable bars and cafés. The rock scene is also one of the healthiest in the country with a prolific number of bands having come out of the city in the 1990s， including Smashing Pumpkins， Material Issue， Veruca Salt and Wilco. And almost everything is noticeably less expensive than in other US cities - eating out， for example， costs much less than in New York or LA， but is every bit as good. Though locals might deny it， the city has a surprisingly low - key and generally welcoming population - Chicagoans on the whole are proud of their city and usually keen to point out its best features. Two great ways to get a real feel for the city are to head out to ivycovered Wrigley Field on a sunny summer afternoon to catch baseball，s Cubs in action， or take a cruise boat under the bridges of the Chicago River at sunset.
Philadelphia， Pennsylvania友爱之城——费城
费城位于美国东北部宾夕法尼亚州的特拉华河畔，面积约336平方公里，人口约200万。“费城”是中文简称，全称是费拉德尔菲亚。
费城有300多年的历史。美国独立战争期间，费城是美国革命的发祥地，许多具有历史意义的事件都发生在这里：1774年和1775年两次大陆会议在这里召开，1776年7月4日《独立宣言》在这里签署，1787年美国第一部宪法在这里诞生。1790至1800年间，费城还曾是美国的首都。因此，费城被称为美利坚合众国的摇篮。如今费城完好地保存着记载这段光荣历史的名胜古迹：独立宫、自由钟、国家独立历史公园、独立大道、富兰克林博物馆等。
在众多的建筑中，最着名的当属“独立宫”。这是一座两层旧式红砖楼房，乳白色的门窗，乳白色的尖塔，正屋和塔之间镶嵌着一座大时钟。就是在这座朴实无华的楼房里，诞生了《独立宣言》和宪法。这里还曾是美国独立战争的指挥中心，故而成为美国历史文物建筑，被命名为“独立宫”，室内保留着当时的会议场景和家具装饰。
“独立宫”附近的“自由钟”是美国独立的象征。1776年7月4日，伴随着洪亮的钟声，《独立宣言》首次公诸于世。1783年4月16日，“自由钟”的钟声又宣告了美国独立战争的胜利。此后，每逢美国国庆日(7月4日)，都要敲响象征美国独立的钟声。这口钟铸于英国伦敦，高约一米，重约943公斤，1752年运到费城。
费城是美国早期发达的金融商业城。这里建立了美国第一家银行和第一个证券交易所 ，至今还保留着一个铸币厂。费城也是座文化名城。美国第一个文化学会——美国哲学学会和第一个图书馆就诞生于此。目前全市有40多家图书馆，藏书500多万册。费城现有30多所高等院校，较着名的大学有宾夕法尼亚大学和坦普尔大学。
中国和费城的交往己有100多年历史。据记载，1876年，美国纪念《独立宣言》100周年时，中国曾派团参加在那里举行的万国博览会。新中国成立后，赫赫有名的费城交响乐团曾多次访华，1980年中国天津市和费城结成友好城市。费城第十街区内现有一座金碧辉煌的牌楼，上书“费城华埠”，是中美两国人民世代友好的象征。
Philadelphia (sometimes referred to as “Philly” or “the City of Brotherly Love”) is the fifth most populous city in the United States and the most populous city in the state of Pennsylvania， occupying all of Philadelphia County. As of the 2000 census， the population was 1，517，550. A June 30， 2005 census estimate showed the population dropping modestly to 1，470，151， with Phoenix， Arizona expected to surpass the city proper as the 5th largest in the United States. However， later estimates showed that Philadelphia，s population loss and Phoenix，s population growth had both slowed， leaving the rankings unchanged for the present.
The Philadelphia metropolitan area is the sixth largest nationally， with some 6.2 million people. Philadelphia is the central city for the Delaware Valley metropolitan area.
Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in the United States. It has played a critical role in American history and the birth of American independence， democracy， and freedom. During part of the 18th century， the city was the second capital and most populous city of the United States. At that time， it eclipsed Boston and New York City in political and social importance， with Benjamin Franklin playing an extraordinaryextraordinary adj.非常的， 特别的， 非凡的， 特派的 role in Philadelphia，s rise.
The city limits have been coterminous with Philadelphia County since 1854. Prior to that， the city of Philadelphia consisted only of those areas between South Street， Vine Street， the Delaware River， and the Schuylkill River. The city，s expansion incorporated the neighborhoods of West Philadelphia， South Philadelphia， North Philadelphia， and Northeast Philadelphia， as well as smaller communities such as Manayunk and Chestnut Hill.
Like every big city， Philadelphia has many neighborhoods， each of which has its own identity. Many of these neighborhoods coincide withcoincide with 与……一致相符 the borough and townships that made up Philadelphia County before their absorbtion by the city. These include Andorra， Roxborough， Northern Liberties， Old City， Bustleton， Oxford Circle， Feltonville， Somerton， Manayunk， Center City， Queen Village， Kensington， Frankford， University City， Strawberry Mansion， Chestnut Hill， Fishtown， Port Richmond， Germantown， Mount Airy， Mayfair， Wynnefield， Chinatown， Fox Chase， South Philly， Society Hill， the Museum District and many others.
Street Layoutlayout n.规划，设计，（书刊等）编排，版面，配线，正划，设计图案，（工厂等的）布局图，片面设计 of Central Philadelphia Penn，s surveyor， Thomas Holme， laid out the city in a strict grid， with all streets running either northsouth or eastwest. The northsouth streets are numbered sequentiallysequentially adv.继续地， 从而 from Front (instead of First)， along the Delaware River， to 13th， followed by the main northsouth thoroughfarethoroughfare n.通路， 大道， Broad Street (instead of 14th).
The numbered streets then resume， continuing in the original plan to 28th at the Schuylkill River. The eastwest streets， many of them named for trees， e.g.， Chestnut， Walnut， Locust， and Spruce (laid out in increasing hardness from softwood Pine in the South to hardwood Chestnut in the North) parallel the main thoroughfare named High Street by Penn， but called Market Street since at least the early 18th century. Six blocks south of Market is South Street， noted in recent decades for its raucous night life and the subject of the 1963 hit single by The Orlons of the same name).
