您正在看的文化英语是:世界城市览胜（7）Perth（澳大利亚）。

Perth is a vibrant and modern city sitting between the cerulean（蔚蓝的）Indian Ocean and the ancient Darling Ranges（达岭山脉）. It claims to be the sunniest state capital in Australia, though more striking is its isolation from the rest of the country - Perth is over 4400kms (2750mi) from Sydney by road.

The city centre's sterile concrete-and-glass skyscrapers unfortunately dominate a picturesque riverside location. Still, behind the domineering edifices hide a handful of 19th-century buildings and facades and some saving-grace patches of greenery.

Perth is situated on Australia's western coast, close to the south-western tip of the country. The city centre is fairly compact, situated on a sweep of the Swan River（天鹅河）. The river, which borders the city centre to the south and east, links Perth to its port, Fremantle（弗里曼特尔）. The western end of Perth rises to the pleasant Kings Park（英皇公园）, which overlooks the city, then extends to cosmopolitan Subiaco（苏比雅克）. Further west, suburbs extend as far as Scarborough and Cottesloe beaches on the Indian Ocean.

Spring (September to November) and autumn (March to May) are the best times to visit, as Perth eXPeriences hot, dry summers and mild, but rainy, winters. One peculiarity of the local weather is the breeze that blows in from the sea in the late afternoon - call it the 'Fremantle Doctor', and you might as well wear a T-shirt saying 'I'm not from around here'.

Every year around February/March the Festival of Perth offers entertainment in the form of music, drama, dance, visual art and films. The Northbridge Festival is hosted at the same time. The Perth Royal Show takes place every September while the Artrage Festival is in October.

The site that is now Perth had been occupied by groups of the Nyoongar tribe for thousands of years. They, and their ancestors, can be traced back some 40,000 years.

In December 1696, three ships in the fleet commanded by de Valmingh - Nijptangh, Geelvinck and Het Weseltje - anchored off Rottnest Island（洛特尼斯岛）. On 5 January 1697, a well-armed party landed near present-day Cottesloe Beach（科特索海滩）then marched eastwards to the Swan River near Freshwater Bay. They tried to contact some of the Nyoongar to enquire about the fate of survivors of the Ridderschap van Hollant, lost in 1694, but were unsuccessful. They sailed north, but not before de Vlamingh had bestowed the name Swan on the river.

Perth was founded in 1829 as the Swan River Settlement, but it grew very slowly until 1850, when conv