Catalina Mountains, Arizona

Postcard US-4029693 to Belarus shows a storm brewing in the Catalina Mountains at Tucson, Arizona. Snow can be seen on the mountain peaks behind the Saguaro Cactus. Photo by Ray Manley.

Campus Map of Peking University

In celebration of the Homecoming Day for Peking University's alumni, and the 118th university's anniversary, today's featured postcard was a private swap from China, showing a hand-painted campus map of Peking University (北京大学) on a shaped card. Found in 1898, it is a major Chinese research university located near the Summer Palace in Beijing.

The university moved to the current site in 1952, the former campus of Yenching University, It was the site of royal imperial gardens in the Qing Dynasty. On the map, you can see many historical structures such as the West Gate, beautiful natural landscape such as the Weiming Lake, as well as the academic buildings such as the library.

Landscape with Peacocks by Paul Gauguin

Outgoing postcard US-3263776 to Taiwan shows an oil painting on canvas Landscape with Peacocks by Paul Gauguin from 1892. Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (June 7, 1848 – May 8, 1903), a French Post-Impressionist artist who was not well appreciated until after his death, is most recognized for his famous paintings of Tahiti. Matamoe, or Landscape with Peacocks, is one of his most beloved works. Peacocks walk in the foreground as a Tahitian man chops wood by a fire. A hut stands in the background with two women talking below palm trees as the sunset turns the landscape orange, purple, red and yellow. Gauguin's experimental use of color and synthetist style made his paintings distinguished from Impressionism.

Qianshan Mountains in China

China Post issued its second series of Landscape Stamped Postcards between 1995 and 2003. In all, nineteen sets of stamped cards had been issued over the nine years, with identification numbers starting with "FP". Each edition has A series with pre-printed domestic postage and B series with international postage.

Postcard CN-1510270 from China was one of the ten postcards from FP6(B) Liaoning Scenery issued in 1998. It shows Qianshan Mountains (千山), a National-level Scenic and Historic Interest Area which is equivalent to a national park. Located 17 kilometers or 10.6 miles southeast to Anshan City, Liaoning Province with a total area of 44 square kilometers or 11,000 acres, it is a branch of the Changbai Mountains on the China-North Korea border. It is the location of a mainstream Taoist shrine. Yiphinwai from Malaysia also recorded a copy from Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China.

The pre-printed postage on the right shows the International postcard rate at 4.20 Chinese Yuan in 1998

Memories

Postcard BY-1337780 from Belarus features an oil painting on canvas made with a palette knife by artist Leonid Afremov, born in the city of Vitebsk, Belarus in 1955. Leonid Afremov graduated from the famous Vitebsk Art School in 1978. The school was founded by Marc Chagall (July 6, 1887 – March 28, 1985), a Belarussian-Russian-French artist, in 1921. Leonid Afremov moved to Israel in 1990, and became known as a Israeli modern painter of landscapes, cityscapes and figures. "The scorching southern sun filled with colors and brightness made Leonid's paintings positive and joyous."

From Finland, with a Stamp Bearing Braille Text

Postcard FI-2007704 from Helsinki is gorgeous by itself. However, I was equally impressed by the stamp that came with the card. The stamp was the first issue in the series depicting Finnish national parks, issued in 2009. It shows the winter landscape of the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park at western Lapland. The stamp is friendly to the visually impaired with the Braille text "1 lk. kl", the 1st class non-value indicator. The stamp was designed by Teemu Ollikainen and photographed by Pekka Luukkola.

House of the Rising Sun

Postcard BY-1046781 from Belarus shows a photo titled the House of the Rising Sun by Vlad Sokolovsky, featuring a beautiful morning scene at the Minsk Sea in Fall 2011.  You can visit the photographer's other works at Foto.BY. He also has a blog on landscape photography at LiveJournal.

Flower Carpet at the Grand Place, Brussels

Postcard BE-230026 from Belgium shows the Flower Carpet in 2010 at the Grand Place, central square of Brussels. The Grand Place is surrounded by guildhalls, the city's Town Hall, and the Breadhouse. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.

The Flower Carpet on the Grand Place in its present-day form was first created in 1971 by the landscape architect E. Stautemans, You can watch a YouTube video to see how the 2010 Flower Carpet was made. You can find more information about the Flower Carpet from their website online.

The sender also offers six things you need to survive in Brussels:

1. comfortable shoes (hilly)
2. sunshades (weather changes in 10 minutes)
3. umbrella (weather changes in 10 minutes)
4. big scarf (weather changes in 10 minutes)
5. sense of humor (lots of absurdity, but it works out in the end)
6. photo camera or sketchbook (it's a beautiful city)

The postcard also bears a beautiful postmark.

Landscape of Guilin, China

Gaotian, Guilin, China

I received a postcard TW-902006 from Taiwan today. Interestingly, the postcard was of Gaotian, Guilin in China. Guiling, one of China's most popular tourist destinations, has has long been famous for its unique landscape of Karst topography.

The sender has sent another card of Guilin TW-881402 to Belarus with an interesting description: "Red Maple Leaves in Scholar's Waiter Hill'. Upon a little search, I found another card with a similar title from Kun Liu's Postcard Collection. However, I haven't figured out what the "Scholar's Waiter Hill" is. If you happen to know, send me an email. I will post update here when I find out more.