Greetings from China!

Hello!

Today, I am going to share the postcards I received from China!

I guess you are all familiar with China since we learned much about it during high school, but I will still give a brief introduction of it before taking a look at the postcards! 

Enjoy them!

[China]

People's Republic of China (PRC) is a country in East Asia. There are 14 countries sharing the land borders with it including North Korea, Russia, Mongolia, India, just to name a few. China is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea.

(Sources: Google)

China is the most populous country in the world, and it is the world's second largest country. The capital of China is Beijing. Perhaps the most known tourist attraction in China is the Great Walls. There is no deny that the Great Walls is one of the greatest constructions in the human history. It is also considered the New Seven Wonders of the World. 

(Sources: Google)

[Postcards from China]

The first postcard is from Shanghai. It is a mural in The Bund, or Waitan, (外灘) which locates in central Shanghai. There are many historical buildings in the area since there were once numerous banks and trading houses from Japan, UK, France, Germany, Russia and many other foreign countries. It is now the most famous tourist attraction in Shanghai. 

The second postcard is from the Sun Yat-sen University (中山大學) in Guangzhou(廣州), which is founded in 1924 by 孫中山. The postcard shows the Memorial Arch of Yi Chou Jinshi (乙醜進士牌坊), which is the oldest arch (500 years) on campus. 

The third one is a postcard I have received recently from my friend. (I always "force" my friend to send me postcards when they travel to other places.😂) She traveled to Suzhou (蘇州) several weeks ago for her designing courses. Suzhou, having about 2500 years of history, is a city in the Jiangsu Province. The city is famous for the stone bridges and the classical gardens(園林). 

Here is a photo of the classical garden in Suzhou. 

(Sources: Google)

The last one is a very interesting postcard. I received it in 2014. It is the year of the FIFA World Cup which was hosted in Brazil. Since I mentioned in my self-introduction that I like football very much, he sent me this postcard! If you enjoy watching football games very much, you may found some familiar faces on the postcards such as Lionel Messi and Mesut Özil!

Last but not the least, here are the stamps from China.

Thank you for spending your precious time reading my blog!

I hope you enjoy them!

Have you ever been to China before?

What do you think of the postcards?

Feel free to leave any comment below:)

Greetings from France!

Hello!

Today, I am going to share some postcards I received from France.

Before taking a look at the postcards, I will give a brief introduction of France.

Enjoy them!

What comes to your mind when you hear the country France?

Louis XIV? French Revolution? Napoleon? Chanel? Dior? Gucci? Louvre? 

[France]

France is a country in western Europe, which is surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea. The neighboring countries are Belgium and Luxembourg in the northeast, Germany and Switzerland in the east, Italy and Monaco in the southeast, and Spain in the southwest. 

(Sources: Google)

French is its official language. Christianity is the major religion in France, and Catholics are the largest group. It is estimated that over 50 percent of French are Catholics. There are also other religions in France such as Islam and Jews. 

(Sources: Google)

The capital of France is Paris, a world known tourist attraction. It is also the most populous city in France. Speaking of France, I believe people will immediately think of the Eiffel Tower. It is estimated that over millions of people fave visited the Eiffel Tower after it was constructed in 1889. 

 (Sources: Google)

Another famous tourist attraction in Paris is the Louvre Museum(羅浮宮), the largest museum in the world. Originally, Louvre is constructed as a fortress by Philip II in the 12th century. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Versailles to be his palace. Thus, the Louvre became a place for the royalties to store their collections. Hundreds years later, the rulers during the French Revolution declared that the Louvre be used as a museum to display the collections. Nowadays, the Louvre Museum has become the most visited museum in the world.

  (Sources: Google)

[Postcards]

The first postcard is sent by a girl living in the northwest of France. She is a dress maker and she mainly made the traditional local clothes. Interestingly, the stamp on the postcard also illustrates the fashion show in France. The postcard shows one of the sites in the town she was born. 

The second postcard shows Caen, a city in the northwest France. She mentioned on the postcard that the day she wrote this was her boyfriend's birthday!

The third one is from Avignon(亞維儂). Perhaps some of you have heard this city before since it once appeared in the history textbook in high school. The postcard shows the famous bridge in Avignon. Under the postcard, it also shows the seven popes that once lived in Avignon. 

Last but not the least, these are the stamps from France! 

Thank you for spending your precious time reading my blog!

What do you think of France? 

Do you want to visit the beautiful and historical country?

Feel free to leave any comment below:)

I hope you enjoy reading my blog!

Greetings from India and Singapore!

Hello!

Today I am going to share the postcards I received from India and Singapore with you!

I will give a brief introduction before taking a look at the postcards.

Enjoy them!

[India]

What comes to your mind when you hear the country India?

Bollywood? Movies with lots of singing and dancing?

The national hero Ghandi? Or the caste system?

India(印度) is a country located in South Asia, with Indian Ocean in the south, Arabian Sea in the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal (孟加拉灣) in the southeast. 

The neighboring countries are Pakistan(巴基斯坦), China, Nepal(尼泊爾), Bhutan(不丹), Myanmar(緬甸), and Bangladesh(孟加拉). 

(Sources: Google)

India is the second populous country in the world. There are many different kinds of religions in India such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam; Hinduism is the main religion in India. Perhaps the most well-known tourist attraction in India is the Taj Mahal, a tomb constructed by the emperor, Shah Jahan, for his beloved wife. 

(Sources: Google)

[Postcards from India]

This is a postcard of the Stone Chariot in Hampi, which is a local tourist attraction. Hampi is a village in northern Karnataka State, which is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since it was once the capital of a former empire. 

In fact, the "Stone Chariot" is not a real chariot. It is actually a shrine built like a chariot. 

The following postcard is about a peacock. The Indian Peafowl is celebrated in Indian mythology. It is said to be the vehicle of Lord Kartikeya, Hindu god of war. The peacock is also the national bird of India. 

The next two postcards are the same! They are sent by different people in different times. To be honest, not until yesterday did I notice that I had received two same postcards from India!

The postcard is also about an ancient site in Hampi, India. Just as I mentioned above, Hampi was once the capital of a powerful empire: The Vijayanagara Empire. 

The monument is called the Lotus Mahal. This is a non-religion structure which is said to be used as a socializing area for women in the royal family. 

[Singapore]

Well, people perhaps are more familiar with this prosperous country located in southeast Asia. I guess there is no need for the brief introduction of it. 

(Sources: Google)

This postcard is from Singapore. It shows the famous symbol of Singapore: the Merlion.

Singapore's first two Merlion statues were sculpted in 1972. Both of them were once located at the mouth of the Singapore River, but they were later moved to the new Merlion Park in 2002.

The other postcard I received from Singapore is about the famous cartoon: Madagascar! The sender said that she bought this postcard at the Universal Studios.

Last but not the least, these are the stamps of the postcards from India and Singapore.

Thank you for spending your precious time reading my blog!

I hope you enjoy them!

Have you ever been to India or Singapore?

What do you think of these two extremely different countries?

Feel free to share with me in the comments below :)

Greetings from Belarus!

Hello!

Today I am going to share some postcards from Belarus(白俄羅斯) Enjoy them:)

Perhaps the first question that comes to your mind is: where is Belarus? 

Before sharing these postcards, let me give a short introduction of this mysterious country!

[Belarus]

Republic of Belarus is a country in Eastern Europe with Russia in the northeast, Ukraine in the south, Poland in the west, and Lithuania(立陶宛) in the northwest.

(Sources: Google)

The capital of Belarus is Minsk(明斯克). With a population of 9.49 million people, it consisted of several groups of people: Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians.

(Sources: Google)

The major languages are Russian and Belarusian, and both of them are the official languages in Belarus; Eastern Orthodoxy is their main religion.

(Sources: Google)

[Postcards from Belarus]

To be honest, the first time I knew Belarus is when I received a postcard from there! There are also many postcrossing members in Belarus, ranking sixth among all the countries.

The following postcard is sent by a girl named Anna, who is a student, studying in Minsk as a landscape designer.

At the right side of the postcard, there is a symbol of ice hockey. In 2014, the IIHF(International Ice Hockey Federation) World Championship was hosted by Belarus.

 The next postcard is sent by a woman living in Minsk. She works at the National Academy of Sciences. 

This postcard is sent by a girl called Veronika. She is from Grodno, a city in Belarus. The postcard shows a tourist attraction in her city.

This postcard is from a college student from Kobryn, a city in Belarus. This is the Kobryn Museum of War and History, a monument to Alexander Suvorov (1730-1800), a Russian military leader and was considered a national hero. 

This is a picture of A.V. Suvorov, and a stamp published in Russia.

The following postcard shows a painting called The Viacha River, painted by Pavel Maslenikau in 1978. It is sent by Kristina, a girl living in Minsk.

The last postcard is very special. The postcard was printed by the sender, and the photo was taken by herself!

The photo shows the bird of Belarus: the stork.

Last but not the least, these are the stamps from Belarus!

Thanks for spending your precious time reading my blog!
What do you think of Belarus?
Have you ever been there before?
If not, do you want to visit there in the future?

Feel free to leave any comment below!
I hope you enjoy these postcards!

Greetings from Santa Claus!

Hello!

Today, I am going to share some letters from Santa with you!
Enjoy them:)

Have you ever dreamed of Santa entering your house from the roof and leaving presents in the Christmas stocking hanging beside your bed?

Sources: Google

Have you ever heard that Santa Claus will make lists of children throughout the world and will categorize them due to their behaviors?

Have you ever hoped to write to Santa Claus, telling him that you have been a good child throughout the whole year and that the gifts you want to receive from him?

To be honest, I did. 
I did write to Santa, and he wrote back!

This is the very first letter I received from Santa.

I was in elementary school then. 
At that time, I had never sent a letter to a foreign country.
Writing to Santa is the first time I write a letter. Since then, I have always been enjoying writing any kind of cards and letters.

I remembered I wrote about how well I did on my assignments and my new year resolution (I guess it was about hoping to lose weight or something else lol.)

Then he wrote back! My teacher told me I was so lucky since Santa wouldn't leave a message on each letter, Most of the time, they would only write your name at the beginning of the letter and sign at the bottom. 

Although the message is quite brief, but for me, it is quite encouraging. I cherish it a lot since this is the very first and a warm letter I received almost ten years ago.

During high school, due to the boring school work, I decided to write to Santa again since receiving letters (and postcards)always brought me joy!

Thus, against my mom's will (she asked me to focus on my studies, but I refused. However, she was even happier than me when seeing these letters lol.) I wrote to six Santa in different countries. 😂😂


[Germany] 
I think this is the most beautiful one among the six letters I received.

The envelope is so beautiful. Although Santa didn't leave any message, he wrote my name and the address by himself! 

Besides the letter, there are also three postcards inside the envelope. 

[France]

The envelope is adorable!

Santa there is very considerate. He knows that I don't understand French, so there is also a translation of the letter. XD

[Norway]

I wrote to Santa in Norway also, a country I really want to visit.

The postcard is from Drobak, a small town near Oslo,（奧斯陸）the capital of Norway.

[Hong Kong]

Even until now, I am still wondering why I wrote to Santa in Hong Kong....

Besides, the time I sent the letter was when the Umbrella Revolution occurred in Hong Kong. I thought I would never received any letter from Santa there.

However, he wrote back!!(though with extremely brief message)

[Austria]

There are no any hand-written message from Austria, including the address. However, besides a letter, I received a story book and a sticker. 

Santa in Austria is not as considerate as the one in France though.

There isn't any translation, so I never figure out what the story book is about. (I guess it is written in German....I guess lol)

[Canada]

This is the second time I wrote to Santa in Canada!

There is also a hand-written message from Santa at the bottom of the letter! But it is a little difficult to understand what he wrote. lol

In fact, I also wrote to Santa in Greenland(格陵蘭), but I didn't receive a letter :(

Thanks for spending your precious time reading my blog!

Are you also interested in writing to Santa?

I decide to write to Santa again this Christmas!

Any comment is very welcome, so feel free to leave messages below:) 

Greetings from Russia!

Hello!

Today, I am going to share the postcards I received from Russia through Postcrossing with you!
I will also introduce some of the stories I explore on the postcards!
Enjoy them:)


[Russia?]

What comes to your mind at the moment when you hear the country "Russia"?
Siberia? Moscow? extremely cold in winter? or plenty of natural gas?

(Sources:Google)

Russia is the largest country in the world, which is gifted with plenty of natural resources such as coal and natural gas.

It has over 144 million people. With such a heavy population, it is easy to guess its postcard-sending ranking in Postcrossing. It ranks second among all the other countries. As a result, I always receive postcards from Russia!

I will briefly divide the types of postcards into three different kinds: postcards from Moscow, postcards from St. Petersburg, and postcards about art.

[Moscow]

Moscow, the largest city on the European continent, is the capital of Russia. Moscow plays a crucial role in the Russian history. It is also the capital of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the main religion in Russia.

These are two of the postcards I received from Moscow. 

It is apparent that most of the churches in Russia share a similarity, that is, the cupola. It is said that the cupola symbolizes the sky.

This is the St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. It is now a museum, and it is a very famous landmark in Russia. Tourists will definitely take a photo in front of it!

Perhaps it is a little bit difficult to recognize it from this postcard. It looks like this during daytime.

(sources: Google)

[Saint Petersburg]

St. Petersburg is the second largest city, as well as the cultural capital in Russia. It is built by Peter the Great in 1703, and it has been the capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundreds years during the 18 century.

This is a postcard of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. 

The Winter Palace was built by Peter the Great in 1703. It was the residence of the Russian monarchs from the 18 to 20 centuries.

Nowadays, it has become a world known museum (Hermitage Museum) which attracts over 3.5 million people annually.

[Art]

I received several postcards which are about the history and arts in Russia.

Seeing from left to right, the first one is called "Young Lady's Morning," by F. Fan Miris (1635-1681).

In fact, the original postcard didn't have an English translation of the painting. Fortunately, a kind mother wrote the translation under the postcard so that I could understand what the postcard was about!

The second one is called "The Holy Family," by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1645. 

The third one is called "The Lute Player," by Caravaggio in 1596. This version is exhibited in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

I guess this postcard was bought in the same place as the first and the second one since the style and the color of the postcards are almost the same though they were all sent by different people at different times.

Unfortunately, I have no idea about the last one since the person sending the postcard didn't mention anything about it....

Last but not the least, I want to share the beautiful Russian stamps with you. Most of them are alike. I can recognize them immediately when receiving the postcards!

Thank you for spending your precious time reading my blog!

These postcards are just a tip of the iceberg. I hope you enjoy them!

Which one do you like the best?

Do you want to visit the beautiful country, Russia, in the future?

I do, after receiving these fantastic postcards!

How about you?

Feel free to share any of your opinion below :)