Johannesburg
is large, sprawling and poorly planned, with few conventional
sights and a bewildering number of districts. The central
business district (CBD) is the Manhattan of Africa with tall
crowded office blocks crowded together and lively street life.
Nearby, the Newtown Cultural Precinct is the place to head
for jazz bars, theatre and the highly informative Museum Africa.
The inner-city districts of Berea and Hillbrow are packed
with migrants from all over the continent, and are generally
no-go areas for visitors.
The city's seemingly endless northern suburbs
, the preserve of white, middle-class Johannesburg, dominate
the northern half of the city. Despite the lack of real sights,
they do offer a few pleasant surprises, notably Parktown,
the original home of Johannesburg's richest residents, leafy
Melville, with its trendy street cafés and lively nightlife,
and Rosebank , an easy-going suburb with some decent galleries
and craft markets. The archetypal northern suburb is opulent
Sandton , full of brand new offices and mind-boggling shopping
malls. Strangely enough, only the highway separates Sandton
from one of Jo'burg's poorest areas, the vibrant but risky
Alexandra township. Southwest of the centre lies the city's
most famous township, Soweto , the single most popular tourist
destination in Johannesburg.
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