Macau Tower :)

Received in mid August 2o13 via Postcrossing private swap. Thanks Winkie! :) It’s the first time I received a postcard of Macau written by someone from Macau. :)

Macau Tower

Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre (Chinese: 澳門旅遊塔會展娛樂中心;Portuguese: Centro de Convenções e Entretenimento da Torre de Macau), also known as Macau Tower, is a tower located in the Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Macau used to be a Portuguese colony until 1999.

The tower measures 338 m (1,109 ft) in height from ground level to the highest point. An observation deck with panoramic views, restaurants, theaters, shopping malls and the Skywalk X, a thrilling walking tour around the outer rim. It offers the best view of Macau and in recent years has been used for a variety of adventurous activities. At 233 meters, the Macau Tower’s tethered “skyjump” and Bungee jump by AJ Hackett from the tower’s outer rim, is the second highest commercial skyjump in the world, after Vegas’ Stratosphere skyjump at 260 meters. The tower was created by the architecture firm of Craig Craig Moller.

The tower is one of the members of the World Federation of Great Towers. Besides being used for observation and entertainment, the tower is also used for telecommunications and broadcasting.

(Source: Wiki)

Lovely stamp of Largo de Santo Agostinho:

崗頂前地（葡萄牙語：Largo de Santo Agostinho），是澳門崗頂（古稱磨盤山）的一個廣場，座落於澳門半島南部風順堂區。2005年作為澳門歷史城區的部分被列入世界文化遺產名錄內。

前地面積雖不大，但卻擁有豐富的人文與宗教景觀。其內的聖若瑟修院大樓及聖堂、崗頂劇院（伯多祿五世劇院）、何東圖書館、聖奧斯定教堂均一同被列入世界文化遺產之建築。另外，社會服務慈善團體澳門明愛以此地為會址。近年，崗頂前地舖上波浪形圖案的葡萄牙風格碎石和小食亭，更增添了廣場的歐陸氣色。

崗頂前地伸延道路可通向議事亭前地（東方斜巷）、福隆新街、龍嵩街、紅窗門街與天通街，其附近也是一區警察局總部與匯業銀行行政中心所在地。而葡文名稱則意為聖奧斯定前地。

(Directly copied from Wiki – my usual practice :P)

武夷山 The Wuyi Mountains, China

Received in mid August 2013 via Postcrossing private swap. I wanted to visit the Wuyi Mountains in 2011 but I didn’t have enough time or money to do so. >_<

It’s an Unesco site in the Fujian province. :)

 

The Wuyi Mountains (Chinese: 武夷山; pinyin: Wǔyí Shān) are a mountain range located in the prefecture of Nanping, in northern Fujian province near the border with Jiangxi province, China. The mountains have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for cultural, scenic, and biodiversity values since 1999.

The Wuyi Mountains are located between Wuyishan City, Nanping prefecture in Fujian province and Wuyishan Town, at Shangrao city in Jiangxi province. The world heritage site has a total area of 99.975 hectares that is divided into four core parts: the Nine-Bend Stream Ecological Protection Area (36,400 ha) in the center, flanked by the Wuyishan National Nature Reserve (56,527 ha) to the west and the Wuyishan National Scenic Area (7,000 ha) to the east. The fourth part, the Protection Area for the Remains of Ancient Han Dynasty (48 ha) is located in a separate area about 15km to the south-east of the others. The core parts are surrounded by an additional buffer zone of 27,888 ha.

(Source: Wiki)

2001 Chinese stamp:

 

The stamps says: 東極救苦天尊

I don’t know anything about this Chinese  god. :P (Apparently too lazy to look for it online :P)

 

甘肅皮影之鄉 The city of shadow play in China :P

Received in mid August 2013 via Postcrossing private swap.

Stolen information no. 1:

慶陽環縣皮影是第一批國家級非物質文化遺產。

2002年6月9日，中國民俗學會正式命名環縣為「皮影之鄉」。

慶陽皮影歷史悠久。清末民初的皮影藝人解長春在皮影的製作和演唱諸方面，作了大膽的改進，給古老的皮影藝術以新的生命。解長春的傳人，繼承發展了解氏皮影藝術。

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

Stolen information no. 2: (not the English translation of the above Chinese passage :P Sorry I’m a lazy blogger!)

Shadow play or also known as shadow puppetry is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated figures (shadow puppets) to create or also known as shadow puppetry is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated figures (shadow puppets) to create Shadow puppets are cut-out figures which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-out shapes of the puppets sometimes include translucent color or other types of detailing. Various effects can be achieved by moving both the puppets and the light source. A talented puppeteer can make the figures appear to walk, dance, fight, nod and laugh.

Source: Wikipedia

 

Ah, the prepaid stamp…

青島 Qingdao, China :)

Received in mid August 2013 via Postcrossing private swap. I’ve always wanted to visit Qingdao! It looks lovely!

 

Qingdao (Chinese: 青島; pinyin: About this sound Qīngdǎo (help·info); German: Tsingtau), historically known as Tsingtao, is a major city in eastern Shandong Province, Eastern China, with a population of over 8.715 million (2010 census). Qīng (青) in Chinese means “green” or “lush”, while dǎo (島) means “island”. Qingdao is administered at the sub-provincial level.

Lying across the Shandong Peninsula while looking out to the Yellow Sea (German: Gelbes Meer), Qingdao is a major seaport, naval base, and industrial centre. It is also the site of the Tsingtao Brewery. The world’s longest sea bridge, the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, links the main urban area of Qingdao with Huangdao district, straddling the Jiaozhou Bay sea areas. Qingdao is named China’s most livable city.

(Thanks Wiki!)

Lovely peacock stamp:

 

Keep calm & carry on :D

It’s already January 2014 but I’m still posting postcards I received in August 2013. :P Seriously lagging behind…>_< but I’ll keep calm and carry on. :P

Received in mid August 2013 via Postcrossing private swap – my 5th keep calm card. Thanks Dominique! :)

The Origin of Keep Calm & Carry On:

Keep Calm and Carry On was a motivational poster produced by the British government in 1939 several months before the beginning of the Second World War, intended to raise the morale of the British public in the aftermath of widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities.

The poster was initially produced by the Ministry of Information, at the beginning of the Second World War. It was intended to be distributed in order to strengthen morale in the event of a wartime disaster, such as mass bombing of major cities using high explosives and poison gas, which was widely expected within hours of an outbreak of war. Over 2,500,000 copies were printed, although the poster was distributed only in limited numbers, and never saw public display.

The poster was third in a series of three. The previous two posters from the series, “Freedom Is In Peril. Defend It With All Your Might” and “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory” were issued and used across Britain for motivational purposes, as the Ministry of Information assumed that the events of the first weeks of the war would demoralise the population.

(Thanks Wikipedia, as usual! :P)

Lovely Belgian stamps:

Lovely triangular postmark:

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina :)

Received in early August 2013 from my Hong Kong friend. Thanks a lot! :)

This place is really of historical importance – it reminds me of my history class at secondary school. :P

 

Sarajevo is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an estimated population of 291,422 within administrative borders and 369,534 within the settlement. According to the 2013 Census, the Sarajevo metropolitan area, including Sarajevo Canton and East Sarajevo has 515,012 inhabitants.

It is also the capital of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, as well as the center of the Sarajevo Canton. Nestled within the greater Sarajevo valley of Bosnia, it is surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans.

Sarajevo is the leading political, social and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and its region-wide influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts contribute to its status as Bosnia and Herzegovina’s biggest and most important economic centre.

In 1885, Sarajevo was the first city in Europe and the second city in the world to have a full-time electric tram network running through the city, following San Francisco.

In 1914, it was the site of the assassination of the Archduke of Austria that sparked World War I.

Seventy years later, it hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics.

For nearly four years, from 1992 to 1996, the city suffered the longest siege of a city in the history of modern warfare during the Bosnian War for independence.

(Source: Wikipedia)

 

Stamp:

Lake Bled, Slovenia :)

Received in early August 2013 from my Hong Kong friend. Thanks a lot! :)

Lake Bled (Slovene: Blejsko jezero; German: Bleder See, Veldeser See) is a lake in the Julian Alps in northwestern Slovenia, where it adjoins the town of Bled. The area is a popular tourist destination. The lake is 35 km (22 mi) from Ljubljana International Airport and 55 km (34 mi) from the capital city, Ljubljana.

(Source: Wikipedia)

 

Stamp:

 

Dubrovnik, Croatia :)

Received in early August 2013 from my Hong Kong friend. Thanks a lot! :)

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea, in the region of Dalmatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Its total population is 42,615 (census 2011).

In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

The prosperity of the city of Dubrovnik was historically based on maritime trade. As the capital of the Republic of Ragusa, a maritime republic, the city achieved a high level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries. Dubrovnik became notable for its wealth and skilled diplomacy.

The beginning of tourism in Dubrovnik is often associated with the construction of the late 19th-century luxury hotels in Croatia, such as Grand Hotel (1890) in Opatija and the Hotel Imperial (1897) in Dubrovnik. According to CNNGo, Dubrovnik is among the 10 best medieval walled cities in the world. Although Dubrovnik was demilitarised in the 1970s to protect it from war, in 1991, after the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was besieged by Serb-Montenegrin forces for seven months and received significant shelling damage.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Stamp:

樂山大佛 Leshan Giant Buddha (Sichuan, China)

Received in early August 2013 via Postcrossing private swap. Thanks Xiya! :)

 

The Leshan Giant Buddha (simplified Chinese: 乐山大佛; traditional Chinese: 樂山大佛; pinyin: Lèshān Dàfó) was built during the Tang Dynasty. It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below his feet. It is the largest stone Buddha in the world and it is by far the tallest pre-modern statue in the world.

The Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. It was not damaged by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

(Source: Wikipedia)

 

Stamps & Xiya’s lovely handwriting:

廣西桂林 Guilin, Guangxi :)

Received in early August 2013 via Postcrossing private swap. Yalun from Jiangsu sent me a lovely postcard of Guilin. Thanks! :)

 

There’s a famous Chinese saying about Guilin:

桂林山水甲天下 (East or west, Guilin landscape is best).

 

About Guilin:

Guilin (Chinese: 桂林; Zhuang: Gveilinz) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China, situated on the west bank of the Li River, and bordering Hunan to the north. Its name means “forest of Sweet Osmanthus”, owing to the large number of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city. The city has long been renowned for its unique scenery of karst topography and is one of China’s most popular tourist destinations.

(Source: Wikipedia)

The fact that it’s one of China’s most popular tourist destinations doesn’t sound very attractive to me as it’ll be an ordeal to fight your way through a huge crowd of tourists. :P

 

Lovely stamps: