Bran Castle, Romania

Bran Castle , situated near Bran, is a national monument and landmark in Romania. Commonly known as "Dracula's Castle" (although it is one among several locations linked to the Dracula legend, including Poienari Castle and Hunyad Castle), it is marketed as the home of the titular character in Bram Stocker's Dracula. There is, however, no evidence that Stoker knew anything about this castle. There is evidence, however, that Vlad Tepes actually did use the castle during his raids into Transylvania.

The castle is now a museum open to tourists, displaying art and furniture collected by Queen Marie. Tourists can see the interior individually or by a guided tour. At the bottom of the hill is a small open air museum park exhibiting traditional Romanian peasant structures (cottages, barns, etc.) from across the country.

St.Dionys of Esslingen

Esslingen am Neckar is a city in the Stuttgart Region in southern Germany, capital of the District of Esslingen as well as the largest city in the district. It is located on the Neckar River, about 14 km southeast of Stuttgart city centre. The surrounding regions are also mostly developed around the city of Esslingen.

On the card you may see the great place of intere of the city: St.Dionys and on the back side there is a special cancellation. Many thanks to Diana!

Chingshui Cliff

Chinghsui Cliff, a five kilometer length of cliff, is located at the southern part of the Suhua Highway that connects the counties of Yilan and Hualien in eastern Taiwan. It is considered to be a very scenic area and is the highest coastal cliff in Taiwan.

Cienfuegos, Cuba

My first card from Cuba! Many thanks to Osmany!

Cienfuegos is a city on the southern coast of Cuba, capital of the province of Cienfuegos. It is located about 250 km (155 miles) from Havana, and has a population of 150,000. The city is dubbed "La Perla del Sur" (Pearl of the South). Cienfuegos literally translates to "Hundred fires". The city was settled by French immigrants and its original name was Fernardina de Jagua. The settlement became a town (Spanish: Villa) in 1829, and a city in 1880. The city was subsequently named Cienfuegos, sharing the name with Cienfuegos, a Captain General in this time, in the island.

FDC from France: Year of the Tiger

I'm sorry that I always delay showing cards and covers because there would be something wrong with the "Great Wall". Here I show the FDC from France sent by Eric's friend in Paris. From February 14th this year began the Lunar Year of the Tiger and many countries issued stamps before that special day. Many thanks again!

The 1892 Victoria County Courthouse

The courthouse was built between February 15th and December 21st, 1892 and is known as the 1892 Victoria County Courthouse. J. Riely Gordon designed this one in Romanesque Revival style. Gordon was fired as architect when he failed to live up to his contract which required him to be present every day of construction.

The current modern courthouse was completed in 1967. The modern, concrete and stone courthouse built in 1967 sits to the right of the 1892 courthouse. Visitors must enter through this building to gain access to the inside of the old courthouse.

Photos of my hometown in spring

Last weekend I went back home. My hometown is not far from where I study and live now, only about 100km away. It's name is Changshu, a small city by the Yangtze River. It's more cleaner and peaceful.
Just look at the tall buildings! I like taking photos of them! But my purpose is......
Right, flowers! Rapeseed flowers!
A whole field of them!
Trees, pool, houses, and flowers
On the way back home......

Palace Square, St.Petersburg

Palace Square , connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St.Petersburg and of the former Russian Empire. It was the setting of many events of worldwide significance, including the Bloody Sunday(1905) and the October Revolution of 1917. The centre of the square is marked with the Alexander Column (1830-34), designed by Auguste de Montferrand. This red granite column (the tallest of its kind in the world) is 47,5 metres high and weighs some 500 tons. It is set so well that no attachment to the base is needed. The eastern side of the square is occupied by Alesanderro Brullo's building of the Guards Corps Headquarters (1837-43). The western side, however, opens towards Admiralty Square, thus making the Palace Square a vital part of the grand suite of St Petersburg squares.

This is my first card sent from the city of St.Petersburg. It is really beautiful! Just planing to make a visit in Russia soon.

Praya Grande, Macau

Macau , also known as Macao is one of the two special administrative regions of the P.R.China, the other being Hong Kong. Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta, bordering Gunagdong Province to the north and facing the South China Sea in the east and south.

Macau was a Portuguese colony and both the first and last European colony in China. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century and subsequently administered the region until the handover on December 20th 1999. The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulate that Macau operates with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer. Under the policy of "one country, two systems", the Central People's Government is responsible for the territory's defence and foreign affairs, while Macau maintains its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, immigration policy, and delegates to international organisations and events.

My friend Senbu sticked a stamp and an ATM-label on the card, perfect! I forgot one more thing that I should thank every visitor here and now the counter has already reached 8000!

Lycoming College

Founded in 1812, Lycoming College is located in Williamsport, PA. The College enrolls 1500 undergraduate students from over 28 states and 12 foreign countries. Eighty percent of the College's students live on campus. Lycoming College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church but operates as an independent institution.

The Carnegie Foundation has classified the College as a “Baccalaureate College – Arts & Sciences.” However, using more detailed categories of the newly revised Carnegie Classification system, Lycoming is found to be one of only 44 colleges to confer over 80% of its degrees in the arts and sciences, to focus exclusively on undergraduate education, to be small in size, to be “selective” or “more selective” in admissions, and to have a majority of full-time students residing on campus.

FDC from Singapore: Year of the Tiger

Many thanks to Terence again for this lovely FDC from Singapore, where he works now. This set was issue on January 8th this year and on the cover Terence affixed 3 stamps(without the sheet of high face value stamps).

A special card from Malaysia

A special card from Malaysia, where? Just look at the back side: stamps and the gutter show the 30th anniversary Malaysia and China Diplomatic Relationship. This set was issue on May 31st 2004. On the card you may also find a ATM-label, which is for covering the postage. But on the label there is no date. Many thanks to Terence for this special card with stamps and the postage label!

Hamburg, Germany

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and the seventh-largest city in the UN. The city is home to over 1.8 million people. The port of Hamburg is the third-largest port in Europe, and the ninth largest in the world. Hamburg's official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. It makes reference to Hambur's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Hopy Roman Empire, and also to the fact that Hamburg was a city-state and one of the sixteen States of Germany.

On the card you may see the German word: Grüße aus dem Welthafen Hamburg, and these means "Greetings from the world port Hamburg".

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, commonly referred to as CUHK, is the second oldest university in Hong Kong; it is campus-based and also the only collegiate university in the territory. The motto of the university is "博 文約禮" in Chinese, meaning "to broaden one's intellectual horizon and keep within the bounds of propriety".

The Chinese University does not conduct its classes solely in Chinese. Cantonese, English, and Mandarin are the languages of instruction. The University was ranked 46th worldwide in the World's Best University: Top 200 by U.S. News & World News and the second best university in the Asia by 2009 Times Higher Education Supplement.

Presidential Office Building in Taipei

The Presidential Office Building，located in the Zhongzheng District in taipei, was designed by architect Uheiji Nagano during the period of Japanese rule of Taiwan (1895-1945). The structure originally housed the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan. Damaged in Allied bombing during World War II, the building was restored after the war by Chen Yi, the Governor-General of the Taiwan province. It became the Presidential Office in 1950 after the Republic of China lost control of mainland China and relocated the nation's capital to Taipei City at the end of the Chinese Civil War.

Punta del Este

Punta del Este is an upscale resort on the southern tip of Uruguay, southeast of Maldonado and about 140 km east of Montevideo. Although the town has a year-round population of about 7,300, the summer tourist boom often boosts the population by an extra 500,000.

This icon of Punta del Este is an artwork by the Uruguayan painter and sculptor Carlos Páez Vilaró. It sits atop Punta Ballena, as one of the main attractions of the peninsula. The artist began work on the project in 1958, and took 36 years to be completed. It is universally considered as a "living Sculpture". Inside this masterpiece there are many rooms facing the sea. During the summer season there are sunset classic music concerts. It is possible to view the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean and the sunset over the Silver River in Punta Ballena.

This is my first card got from Uruguay! Very good!

FDC from Austria: Endangered animals

On January 8th the Austrian Post issued a set of two stamps on Endangered Animals. Many thanks to Florian for this nice FDC! On the cover you may see the issue date and the issue place: Vienna, the capital city of Austria and in German is written as Wien. Fischotter and Bachforelle are also in German. They are respectively known as European Otter and Brown Trout.

The European Otter is the most widely distributed otter species, its range including parts of Asia and Africa as well as being spread across Europe. It is believed to be currently extinct in Liechtenstein, and Switzerland, It is proven to be extinct in The Netherlands. They are now very common in Latvia, along the coast of Norway and in Northern Britain, especially Shetland where 12% of the UK breeding population exist. Ireland has the highest density of Eurasian otters in Europe. The European Otter's diet mainly consists of fish but can also include birds, incects, frogs, crustaceans and sometimes small mammals, including young beavers. In general this opportunism means they may inhabit any unpolluted body of freshwater, including lakes, streams, rivers, and ponds, as long as there is good supply of food. European Otters may also live along the coast, in salt water, but require regular access to freshwater to clean their fur.

The brown trout is fish of the same species. The brown trout is largely a freshwater fish, and the brown trout is normally considered to be native to Europe and Asia but the natural distribution of the migratory forms may be, in fact, circumpolar. There are also landlocked populations far from the oceans, for example in Greece and Estonia. The brown trout is a medium-sized fish, growing to 20 kg or more in some localities although in many smaller rivers a mature weight of 1 kg (2 lb) or less is common. The spawning behaviour of brown trout is similar to that of the closely related Atlantic salmon.

Photos of the water county

In this text I want to post some photos, which are taken by me when I travelled in the traditional water county with my girl friend this January. It's named Xitang and located in Zhejiang Province, Southeast China. Some weeks ago I posted two cards of this county, which were sent by one of my friends. And I had dreamed for such a long time that I could go there for a visit.

Actually this water town is not far from where I study. It costed only 45 minutes by train. Now just enjoy my photos! Hope you'll like them!

The first one shows a special shop on the main street of the town. Many travellers left their messages or wishes on the papers.



A nice view of the main river with traditional houses on the both banks.


Many ships waiting for visitors.

It's me. Haha~~
One of the main streets in Xitang.


We spent two hours in a Cafe. A cat was sleeping on the hanging chair. Cute!

Los Angeles

Los Angeles , is the second largest city in the USA, and with a population of 3.8 million is the largest city in the state of California. Often known by its initials, "L.A.", and nicknamed the "City of Angels".

Los Angeles was founded on September 4, 1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula. It became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its independence from Spain. In 1848, at the end of the Mexican-American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States; Mexico retained the territory of Baja California. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood.