How would you like to sip a glass of cold beer while sitting in the shadow of a Chinese pagoda surrounded by English gardens in the middle of a southern German city? It may sound unlikely, but that is what millions of visitors from around the world experience in Munich in late September and early October every year. They come to celebrate Oktoberfest, probably the largest public festival in the world.

The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 to celebrate the wedding of Prince Ludwig, who later became King Ludwig I of Bavaria. The celebration featured horse races, which were repeated the following year, and the festival became an annual event. Beer stands were introduced in 1818, and these were changed to the now-famous beer tents in 1896. The drink is a major feature of the event, and this year's visitors are expected to top last year's numbers of 5 million liters of beer and 650,000 pork sausages consumed.

It is fair to say that the city of Munich was founded on beer. Christian monks established a settlement there in the ninth century and began to brew a tasty mixture of malt and hops which they probably used to help " convert " local inhabitants to their religion. The tiny village where they lived eventually became known as Bei den Mon chen, meaning "where the monks are". Nowadays, St. Peter Church stands on the site where the monks founded their settlement.

It was in the early years of the nineteenth century that Munich really began to grow, and many of the city's best known buildings date from this time. Despite being the modern metropolis that hosted the 1972 Olympic Games, Munich has retained a quiet charm. It is easy to forget you are in a big city as you stroll through the English Gardens, one of Europe's largest parks—complete with the Chinese Tower—and a beer garden of course.

There is much more to modern Munich than beer gardens. It is Germany's favorite city, insofar as surveys show a majority of Germans would prefer to live there. Some jokingly call it the only Italian city north of the Alps, a reference to Munich's easygoing spirit that contrasts with the staid impression many foreigners have of Germany.

Despite the city's traditional image, many residents never set foot inside a beer hall or go anywhere near Oktoberfest, which is looked down on by some as a festival only for foreign tourists. These citizens see themselves as part of a thriving, modern metropolis which is the high-tech capital of Germany. Indeed, Munich plays host to a large concentration of communications and electronics firms.

Munich, then, is a city of fascinating contrasts. It has terrific museums, architectural treasures, and open-air shopping as well as space-age factories and world-class markets. If you could visit only one city in Germany, the capital of Bavaria would be a worthy choice.

在德國南部城市中，坐在為英式花園環抱的中國式寶塔的蔭涼下，啜飲一杯冰涼的啤酒，這樣的感覺，你有多心動？聽起來也許像天方夜譚，但這就是每年九、十月之交，來自世界各地的百萬游客，群集慕尼黑的親身經歷。他們來慶祝“啤酒節”──可能是世界上最盛大的公眾節日。

首屆“啤酒節”于1810年舉行，為了慶祝路德維格王子的婚禮，嗣后他成了巴伐利亞路德維格一世國王。賽馬是慶祝活動的特色，來年亦再度舉行，此節日因而成為一年一度例行的大事。啤酒攤首次引入是在1818年，到了1896年這些攤位已成為今日盛名遠揚的啤酒棚。喝啤酒是這個節慶的主要特色，去年游客飲用了超過500萬公升的啤酒，吃掉了65萬條以上的豬肉香腸，預計今年的游客將超過去年的消費數字。

若說慕尼黑是因啤酒而建，并不夸張。九世紀時，基督教僧侶在當地建立了一個定居點，并開始釀造某種將麥芽及啤酒花混合而成的美味飲料，他們曾經利用這種飲料來幫助他們令當地居民皈依基督教。這座基督教僧侶曾居住的小村落后來成為人所共知的Bei den Mon chen，意為 “僧侶之地”。今天，圣彼得教堂便座落在當時僧侶建定居點的地方。

直到上世紀初，慕尼黑才真正開始發展起來，許多最知名的慕城建筑都源自那個時期。盡管它曾以現代大都會之姿主辦了1972年的奧運會，慕尼黑仍保有其靜謐的魅力。當你在“英國花園”──歐陸最大的公園之一——中漫步，當然還有置身其中的中國高塔和一座啤酒園──你將渾然不覺還身處在大城市之中。

現代慕尼黑可不只有啤酒園而已。它是德國一座人們喜愛的城市，調查顯示，大多數德國人愿意選擇在慕城定居。有些人戲稱她是阿爾卑斯山以北唯一的意大利式城市，意味著慕尼黑隨和親切的氣氛，這和許多外國人對德國嚴肅持重的印象，形成天壤之別。

盡管慕城具有這種傳統的形象，許多當地居民卻從未涉足啤酒廳和到舉辦“啤酒節”臨近的任何地方。有些人認為這些地方不屑一顧，只不過是外國游客的節慶。這些市民認為自己是一個蒸蒸日上，現代大都會的一部分。它是德國高科技的首都，的確，慕尼黑接納了云積此地的眾多通訊及電子公司。

由此可見，慕尼黑是一個極具迷人的有鮮明反差的城市。它有令人流連忘返的博物館、建筑珍品，露天商場，也有太空時代的工廠和世界頂級的購物商場。假如你只能訪問德國的一座城市，那么巴伐利亞的首府將是一個絕對值得一游的城市！