Autumn

The beautiful colours of autumn on the card please me so much that I have in fact posted it before (two years ago) but Sunday Stamps gives me the opportunity this time to show the stamp.  I'm showing the se-tenant strip because I think it's both attractive and clever.  All four seasons are shown, trees reflecting on water.  Not only that, the names SUOMI and FINLAND are shown in reflection on the two stamps and so too the denominations.

Other seasonal stamps I've found have been mainly mushrooms.

From Poland, the Mushrooms in Polish forests series, issued in August 2012

From Taiwan, the Wild Mushrooms series, issued in March 2010

One of  a set of 4 values showing Edible mushrooms, issued in September 2013

That made my mouth water so I had mushrooms for lunch, but they weren't wild.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Invitation to a book show

This appears to be an ad card for a Taiwan e-book producer, for a book show.  In case the rather small print isn't readable, it says "Where to go? BOOKS show".

I am wholly in agreement that books take you places, whether places in your imagination or real.  I especially love to read novels where the location is well described, where you feel transported to another country.

On the reverse there is more small print, "Reading leads you to wisdom; Knowledge prepares you for the future".  I'm still waiting for the wisdom.

Chinese horoscope

In the limited time I have these days, I searched high and low for any signs of the zodiac that I hadn't already posted.  I'm having to show the Year of the Horse stamp from Taiwan but at least this time it's on a different postcard, one that shows all the Chinese signs of the zodiac, running right to left, top to bottom:
Rat
Ox
Tiger
Rabbit
Dragon
Snake
Horse
Goat
Monkey
Rooster
Dog
Pig

We tend to think the signs are allocated to years in Chinese astrology but in fact they are also assigned to months, days and hours.  The year sign is how you appear to others, the month is how you are internally, the day sign is how you really are, and the hour denotes your secret self.

The card shows a paper cut-out silhouette. Chinese paper-cutting has been listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Art from Taiwan

I received an early stamp issue for the Year of the Horse last December from Taiwan.  It came on a card which has the title "Swinging in the Garden" by He Cheng.  I haven't managed to find out anything more about it so far.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Postboxes from Taiwan

Postboxes, letter boxes, mail boxes, call them what you will.  These ones from Taiwan were chosen specifically for me because of my postbox avatar.

I assume the different colours indicate different postal rates such as home and abroad but I don't know for sure, nor which might be which.

The Island of Formosa

From the back of the card:
L'isle Formose, et partie des costes de la Chine suivant les cartes et les observation les plus récentes et entre autres des RR PP Jésuites par Nicolas BELLIN (1703 - 1772 ) Ingénieur de la Marine.
Echelle de lieues marines de France et d'Angleterre.
[carte gravée probablement en 1748]


This is what's written in the inset bottom left and translates roughly as:

The island of Formosa, and part of the coast of China according to the most recent charts and observations, among others the RR PP Jesuits
by Nicolas BELLIN (1703 - 1772) Navy Engineer.
Scale of nautical leagues of France and England.
[map engraved probably in 1748]

It was sent to my from Taiwan.

Themed stamps

I always like it when I find a stamp is the same theme as the card it's on.  I don't mean maxi-cards with a matching stamp, more just a similar theme.  Here are two that arrived fairly recently.

From the Netherlands I received cows on a card, a reproduction of an old image, along with a cow on a stamp.

Next from Taiwan came the card showing an old mountain village which has become a tourist attraction, and the stamp shows the same place.  The street (there is apparently only the one, The Old Street)  looks a great deal less narrow in the stamp but the red lanterns are there.

The village has an interesting history.  Its name means "nine portions" because it once was home to nine families who always wanted nine portions of shipments.  It remained a tiny village until gold was discovered in 1893.  Later, during WWII it housed a POW camp and the prisoners were put to work in the gold mines. In 1971 the mine was closed and the village went into decline.

A film "A City of Sadness" which went on to win the Golden Lion award in the Venice Film Festival was set in the village and so revived interest in the place and it has since developed into a draw for tourists.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

The Year of the Snake

I don't believe I've seen snake shaped snowmen before, but from Japan came this Happy New Year postcard with snakes building a snowman in their likeness.  On the reverse was this stamp:

I'm not entirely sure what it is but you can at least see a snake there.

Another card from Taiwan recently arrived with a Year of the Snake motif:

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Nixon's Head

Kenting National Park is right at the southern tip of Taiwan.  This artist's view of South Bay shows the rock sometimes known as Nixon's Head because of its similarity to the profile of Richard Nixon.  further away it looks like a sailing ship so its other name is Sail Rock or Chuanfanshih.

Cingjing Farm

Until I spotted the little Taiwan sign in the bottom left corner, I assumed I'd been sent a card from Switzerland or possibly Austria.  In a way I wasn't too far wrong because the area is often called the Alps of Taiwan.

On the back of the card, in tiny print, it says that this shows the Cingjing Farm.  After a little googling, I found out that it's officially the Cingjing Veterans' Farm where people from the Burmese-Thai-Laotian borders have settled.

A package from Taiwan

I was really surprised the other day when this lovely card arrived.  It was stamped and the stamp was cancelled, but it had been tied with the fine twine you see attaching two views of Taiwan on photo film, then put inside a cellophane envelope.  It looked as though I had been sent a special gift!  I think, though I'm not certain because the card's text is all in Chinese script, that it must show the Alishan Forest Railway and the National Park.

You've probably seen that the card has "Ilha Formosa" as it's title.  That is Portuguese for "Beautiful Island".  The name dates from 1544 when Portuguese sailors first saw the island.  The official name is not even Taiwan, it's Republic of China (ROC).  The country we tend to call China is the People's Republic of China (PRC).  Confusing.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Two views of Taroko National Park

The Taroko National Park in Taiwan as seen by a camera and as seen by an artist, and almost a year ago  I showed a different view.  The top card came with a special postmark or stamp.

The Light of East Asia

The Eluanbi Lighthouse is on the southernmost point of Taiwan and often known as the Light of East Asia.  It is still functional but also preserved as a historical monument.

It comes from the same range of cards as the Skytower.

Temple of Confucius

At one time there were over 3,000 temples dedicated to Confucius.  Confucian learning spread from China widely through the world, and as a result temples were built in a number of countries, among them Taiwan.  The first was built in the 17th century in Tainan City but this one shown is more recent, in Taipei.

Lantern Festival

In the district of Pingxi, or Pinghsi, in northern Taiwan, they hold a Festival of Lanterns each year, 15 days after the Lunar New Year.  People write their hopes, dreams, and wishes on sky lanterns, light a flame inside, and let the lantern rise up to the heavens.   The lanterns aren't small - about 60 cm across by 120 high (2 feet by 4 feet).

Everyone releases their lanterns at much the same time and the skies become full with hundreds of lights.  According to the sender of this card, "it becomes a painting as in Van Gogh's Starry Night".

I hope you see all your wishes and dreams come true this year.

Click on the button to visit Jocelyn's cuckootree to take part in Our Wonderful World Tuesday.  If you join in this week, you could win a lovely postcard.

Almost enough books

A little girl lost in a library or maybe even a bookshop.  They don't have places like this any more, where you can lose yourself among the shelves.  Years ago I visited Foyles bookshop in London which had higgledy piggledy rooms of higgledy piggledy shelves and it was a joy.  I believe they have modernised - I do hope not too much but I fear the worst.

The card was sent from Taiwan but there is no indication of the artist or any other information.


This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Year of the Dragon

The Chinese New Year is the longest and most significant festival in the Chinese calendar.  It marks the end of the winter and an opportunity to sweep away any bad luck from the previous year, and welcome in good luck.

The Year of the Dragon is a particularly auspicious year and many Chinese people have made particular efforts to have babies born this year.  According to the BBC, the Hong Kong authorities are expecting a 5% increase in the number of births compared with last year, and some say possibly even 10%.

My card comes from Taiwan.

Skytower

The Tuntex Skytower, or 85 Skytower as it's sometimes known, is the tallest building in Kaohsiung and was the tallest in Taiwan until Taipei 101 was built.  The 85 comes from the number of floors in the building which was completed in 1997.

I don't know that the scan does justice to the card which is really very striking.  I'd love to know whether the characters actually say anything or are just decorative scribble.

Taiwan - a most unusual map

You could call it a jigsaw puzzle map I think, though that wouldn't quite tell the whole story.  If you look carefully, you can see that there are fine lines outlining the counties of Taiwan.  The outer layer of fine card comes away to reveal more information and interesting features, as it has done for the most northerly counties.  Sadly those pieces have been lost in the post.

I can't bring myself to remove any more of the pieces, though maybe I will sometime in the future when my curiosity overcomes me.  The trouble is I suspect that, once removed, it will be impossible to replace them.  Meanwhile I'll make do with peeping carefully. 

Autumn leaves

I can almost hear the rustle of the leaves and the scratch of the broom.  The reverse of the card says, "Street covered with fallen leaves".  The characters on the front seem to say much more but it hardly matters.  A picture is worth a thousand words.