Chapter 486: Capital of Culture

Every day at noon, the guards hold a solemn changing of the guard ceremony. Visitors can buy a ticket to enter the palace through the sentry post, see the gold, silver, jewelry, and various exquisite utensils left by the Swedish kings, and see the colorful murals in the palace.

To the north of the old town is the Selgel Square in the heart of the city. There is a huge fountain in the center of the square. In the middle of the pond stands a large pillar about 40 meters high and composed of more than 80,000 pieces of glass, which emits strange colors in the interweaving of sunlight and light.

The streets surrounding the square, King Street, Queen Street and Svia Street are the city's busiest business districts. The modern atmosphere here is in stark contrast to the quaint old town. Beneath the square is a huge underground shopping mall and the central station of the underground railway, which is known as "the world's longest underground art gallery".

Unlike Venice, where boats are used as a means of travel, Stockholm's underground railway runs through the seabed and is the main mode of transportation in the region. The central station is divided into three floors, and passengers can get on and off at the same time on each floor.

At the eastern end of Kings Island, southwest of the city centre, is the town hall.

The three golden crowns on the 105-meter-high spire of the town hall are the symbol of Stockholm. Near the Imperial Palace, there are also "China Palace" and "Beihai Thatched Cottage". Beihai Thatched Cottage is a Chinese-style garden, which was built by Kang Youwei, the leader of the Chinese Restoration, when he was in exile after the failure of the Wuxu Reform.

Stockholm is also a famous cultural city, with more than 50 museums in the city, such as ethnic, natural, art, antiquities, weapons, science and technology museums, etc., each with its own merits. At the Skansen Open Air Museum, there are 150 farmhouses moved from all over Sweden, in a variety of styles, to vividly show the simple and meaningful years spent by the ancient working people of Sweden.

There is also the Royal Library, which has a collection of more than 1 million volumes, and Stockholm University, which has a history of more than 100 years.

Sweden has not been involved in any war since 1809, and in the two world wars, Stockholm was known as the "City of Peace" because Sweden declared itself a neutral country and its inhabitants lived in peace and tranquility.

Stockholm is the economic center of Sweden, accounting for more than 20% of the country's total industrial output and total retail sales. It has various important industries such as steel, machinery manufacturing, chemicals, papermaking, printing, and food. Forty-five percent of the country's major companies are headquartered here.

The service sector is the largest industry in Stockholm, providing around 85% of jobs. There is almost no heavy industry in Stockholm, making it one of the cleanest metropolises in the world.

The Sista Satellite City in the north of the city is the largest information technology center in Northern Europe, not only Sweden's own communication giant Ericsson, but also a number of world-class computer, electronics, and communication companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Nokia, and HP, as well as China's Huawei Communications and ZTE Electronics.

Stockholm is also Sweden's financial center, with the headquarters of Sweden's major banks located here. Such as Sedbank, Handelsbanken and SEB. Most insurance companies, such as Skandia, also have their headquarters in Stockholm and the Swedish Stock Exchange.

The IKEA supermarket in the southwest of the city is the largest in the world.

In recent years, tourism has become the main industry. According to Euromonitor, Stockholm is the second most visited Nordic city by tourists, with around one million visitors per year.

Stockholm is a city that is both old and young, elegant and bustling. Its old town, which is more than 700 years old, has been well preserved since it was protected from the devastation of the war and now retains its quaint style.

There are medieval buildings decorated with carvings and stone carvings, and the streets are narrow and have the look of an old town. The central square of the old town still retains an ancient well, which is said to have been the only fresh water well used by residents hundreds of years ago.

There are also monuments such as the majestic royal palace Nicholas Church. If you arrive in front of the palace at noon, you will also see the changing of the guard with magnificent costumes and ceremonies. For a few SEK, you can buy a ticket and pass through these posts to see the gold, silver, jewelry, and exquisite utensils left behind by the Swedish royal family over the ages, as well as the exquisite frescoes in the palace.

Stockholm also has the characteristics of a modern city, with green grass and elegant environment, buildings surrounded by tree walls, lawns and flowers planted in the streets, roadsides and houses, and fountains.

Stockholm is the home of Nobel. Nobel, who never went to university, studied his own and humbly sought advice, and was famous for inventing yellow explosives and smokeless gunpowder. He donated his entire estate to establish the Nobel Prize.

Since 1901, the prize money has been awarded annually in a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall, where the King of Sweden personally awards the prize to the winner.

Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, has a number of national cultural institutes. The most famous cultural monuments are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Deningham Palace and the Skurg Necropolis.

The oldest part of Stockholm is the Old Town, which was built mainly on the island of Stadsholmen. It retains its medieval street system, with two main roads, the East Long Street (?sterl?nggatan) and the West Long Street (V?sterl?nggatan) crossing the island, and a number of side roads leading to the shore.

Famous buildings on the island include the huge German church (Tyska kyrkan), a number of mansions and mansions such as the Riddarhuset (Nobel's residence).

In 1998, Stockholm was named the European Capital of Culture.

To the east of the city, the Dune Baden area was once home to Kang Youwei, one of the most famous reformers in modern Chinese history. Kang Youwei failed to change the law, went into exile, made a trip around the world, and once went to Sweden.

In 1909, he bought a small island here, built a Chinese-style garden, and named it "Beihai Thatched Cottage".

In the 18th century, scientific research and higher education began in Stockholm, such as the Stockholm Meteorological Observatory, which was established during that period. The Karolinska Institutet was founded in 1811 and is now the school that awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine each year.

Founded in 1827, the Royal Institute of Technology is now Sweden's largest technical higher education institution. Founded in 1878, Stockholm University was awarded the title of university in 1960 and had a total of 35,000 students in 2004.

Stockholm University has incorporated many other historic institutions, such as the Observatory, the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the Botanical Gardens. Founded in 1909, the Stockholm School of Economics is one of the few private institutions of higher learning in Sweden.