Wellington Cable Car at Sunrise, New Zealand

Postcard NZ-146552 from New Zealand shows a stunning sunrise with the Wellington Cable Car in the forefront. Established in 1902, Wellington’s historic Cable Car is the only cable railway currently in operation in New Zealand.

For visitors, no trip to Wellington is complete without a ride on the famous cable car; for locals, it's more than a commute. A good way to spend a morning is to get to the top of the Botanic Gardens early to watch the sunrise and view the cityscape. You will need to check the local sunrise time and the cable car timetable to plan the trip. Stop at the Cable Car Museum that was the original winding house. Then walk down to the city's central business district through the beautiful gardens and old houses.

The Cable Car is currently closed from June 7 to July 31, 2016 for upgrade.

In Search of Sunrise

夸父与日逐走，入日；渴，欲得饮，饮于河、渭，河、渭不足，北饮大泽。未至，道渴而死。弃其杖，化为邓林。

An ancient Chinese legend has a giant tribal chief named Kua Fu (夸父) who believed that he would bring back truth and prosperity if he could catch the Sun. So, one day in the morning he started race to the Sun in full speed as soon as he saw the sunrise. At the end of the day, Kua Fu got too close to the Sun and became dehydrated. He was so thirsty that he drank up all the water from the Yellow River (黃河) and the Wei River (渭河) but it was still not enough. Tried but failed to reach the Big Lake in the north, Kua Fu died from the heat exhaustion before he could get there. Kua Fu dropped his cane as he fell down. And the cane had turned into a grove of peach trees, providing protection from the Sun for those who came through afterwards.

Usually a late night person or a night owl, I did a project In Search of Sunrise, filming the sunrise every day for three months last year. The experience was transforming. The card was made from one of the photos taken during the first day on September 30, 2015. It features an unassuming replica of the Statue of Liberty in a neighborhood shopping mall.

Jhaorih Hot Spring, Green Island, Taiwan

Postcard TW-1496923 from Taiwan shows Jhaorih Hot Spring (朝日溫泉), located on the south-east part of Green Island (綠島), in Taitung County, Taiwan.  

Green Island, a small volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean 33 kilometers or 21 miles off the eastern coast in Pacific Ocean, is the 4th largest island in Taiwan. It was known for its prisons and penal colonies for political prisoners during the martial law period between the late 1940s and the late 1980s. The prison was later closed, and the island is now open to the public.

Jhaorih Hot Spring gets its name because it faces the Pacific Ocean to the east. Bathing in the morning in one of the three ocean-side spas, or one of the five terrace-like hot-water and lukewarm-water pools will guarantee a magnificent sunrise view in a sunny day. All pools and spas are fed by spring water from under the ocean floor with a temperature of 53°C or 127°F and a pH value of 7.5.

Sunrise over Mount Zaō in Japan

Postcard JP-463262 from Japan shows a photo of beautiful sunrise at Mount Zaō (蔵王山) in Japan. Among the one hundred most famous mountains in Japan, Mount Zaō is a complex volcano that consists of a cluster of stratovolcanoes built up by layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. (Sources: Wikipedia) It is noted for a 360 m or 1,200 ft wide and 60 m or 200 ft deep crater lake Five Color Pond (五色沼) as the lake would change color depending on the weather.

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.