Thursday, June 28, 2012

Hong Kong

Received from: Hong Kong
Category: Choose a country RR
Date: June 2012

The Tsing Ma Bridge is a bridge in Hong Kong. It is the world's seventh-longest span suspension bridge, and was the second longest at time of completion. The bridge was named after two of the islands at its ends, namely Tsing Yi and Ma Wan . It has two decks and carries both road and rail traffic, which also makes it the largest suspension bridge of this type. The bridge has a main span of 1,377 metres (4,518 ft) and a height of 206 metres (676 ft). The span is the largest of all bridges in the world carrying rail traffic.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Japan

Received from: Japan
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: June 2012
Distance: 8601 km
Time of travelling: 6 days

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Lisbon

Received from: Portugal
Category: I'm going to vacations RR
Date: May 2012

Belém Tower or the Tower of St Vincent is a fortified tower located in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site (along with the nearby Jerónimos Monastery) because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the era of the Age of Discoveries. The tower was commissioned by King John II to be part of a defense system at the mouth of the Tagus River and a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Jiufen

Received from: Taiwan
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: May 2012
Distance: 8512 km
Time of travelling: 14 days

Jiufen, also known as Jioufen or Chiufen (Chinese: 九份; pinyin: Jiǔfèn; Wade–Giles: Chiu3-fen4; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Káu-hūn; literally "nine portions"), is a mountain area in the Ruifang District of New Taipei City near Keelung, Taiwan.

Dubna

Received from: Russia
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: May 2012
Distance: 1154 km
Time of travelling: 14 days

Dubna is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It has a status of naukograd (i.e. town of science), being home to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international nuclear physics research center and one of the largest scientific foundations in the country. It is also home to MKB Raduga, a defense aerospace company specializing in design and production of missile systems. The modern town was developed in the middle of the 20th century (and town status was granted in 1956).

New Zealand

Received from: New Zealand
Category: private swap
Date: May 2012

During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of both animal and plant life. Most notable are the large number of unique bird species, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals. With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions caused by the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates clashing beneath the earth's surface.