057 HONG KONG - Jumbo Kingdom

Jumbo Kingdom consists of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant and the adjacent Tai Pak Floating Restaurant, renowned tourist attractions in Aberdeen South Typhoon Shelter, within Hong Kong'sAberdeen Harbour. Over 30 million visitors have visited Jumbo Kingdom, including Queen Elizabeth II, John Wayne, Tom Cruise, and Gong Li.Jumbo Kingdom is part of Melco International Development Limited, a company listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Floating restaurants appeared in the typhoon shelter shortly after World War II. The Sea Palace Floating Restaurant was sold and towed to Australia.

The Tai Pak Floating Restaurant was established in 1952. On 30 October 1971 a fire occurred at the Jumbo Floating Restaurant, before its opening.Up to 34 workers were killed. The Jumbo Kingdom was established in October 1976 by Dr. Stanley Ho after four years and over HK$30 million were spent to design and build it. It was originally decorated in the style of an ancient Chinese imperial palace. In 2000, two tugboats brought one of the floating barges (Palace) from the Aberdeen Harbour to the mouth of the Manila Bay, and it was rebranded as the "Jumbo Kingdom Manila". Much of the original ancient Chinese imperial palace style renovation has been retained. The Jumbo Kingdom went through a major multi-million dollar renovation in 2003, which transformed it into a theme park on the sea including dining, shopping, sightseeing and cultural attractions.

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mng97 (postcrossing) sent from Hong Kong on 17.10.2013

056 FRANCE - Historic Site of Lyon (WHS)

Lyon is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Parisand Marseille. The city is known for its historical and architectural landmarks and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lyon was historically known as an important area for the production and weaving of silk and in modern times has developed a reputation as the capital of gastromomy in France. It has a significant role in the history of cinema due to Auguste and Louis Lumière, who invented the cinematographe in Lyon. The city is also known for its famous light festival 'Fête des Lumières' which occurs every 8 December and lasts for four days, earning Lyon the title of Capital of Lights. Legend says that the Virgin Mary saved the city from the plague and, to thank her, a statue was built. On the day it was erected, the whole city was lit by candles that its citizens had put at their windows. 

The Historic Site of Lyon was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. In its designation, UNESCO cited the "exceptional testimony to the continuity of urban settlement over more than two millennia on a site of great commercial and strategic significance."The specific regions composing the Historic Site include the Roman district and Fourvière, the Renaissance district (Vieux Lyon), the silk district (slopes of Croix-Rousse), and the Presqu'île, which features architecture from the 12th century to modern times. Both Vieux Lyon and the slopes of Croix-Rousse are known for their narrow passageways (named traboules) that pass through buildings and link streets on either side. The first examples of traboules are thought to have been built in Lyon in the 4th century. The traboules allowed the inhabitants to get from their homes to the Saône river quickly and allowed the canuts on the Croix-Rousse hill to get quickly from their workshops to the textile merchants at the foot of the hill.

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jean-mimi (postcrossing) sent from Lyon (France) on 24.10.2013

055 RUSSIA - Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings (WHS)

The historic monuments of Novgorod conclude the Kremlin and also the town of Veliky Novgorod. Veliky Novgorod is one of the most important historic cities in Russia which serves as the administrative center of Novgorod Oblast. Novgorod is among the oldest cities of Russia, founded in the 9th or 10th century. The Sofia First Chronicle first mentions it in 859; the Novgorod First Chronicle mentions it first in the year 862, when it was allegedly already a major station on the trade route from the Baltics to Byzantium.

Novgorod Kremlin stands on the left bank of the Volkhov River in Veliky Novgorod about two miles north of where it empties out of Lake Ilmen. The compound was originally the site of a pagan burial ground upon which the first bishop of Novgorod built the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom upon on his arrival in the area in 989 or so. Thus the compound was and remained largely an ecclesiastical site, although many Novgorodian boyars built their houses in the southern part of the Detinets. The first reference to fortifications on the site dates to 1044 with additional construction taking place in 1116. These were probably earthern embankments topped by a wooden palisade, although stone towers and walls were built in 1302. Archbishop Vasily Kalika (1330-1352) rebuilt the stone wall along the eastern side of the Detinets in 1331-1335. The rest was completed in stone only in 1400. Part of Vasily's walls collapsed into the Volkhov River in 1437 and were rebuilt by Archbishop Evfimy II (1429-1458).

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Oljika (postcrossing) sent from Vladivostok (Russia) on 03.10.2013

054 FINLAND - Fortress of Suomenlinna (WHS)

Suomenlinna, until 1918 Viapori, is an inhabited sea fortress built on six islands and which nows forms part of the city of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Sweden started building rge fortress in 1748, when Finland was still a part of the Swedish kingdom. Augustin Ehrensvärd (1710-1772) and his gigantic fortification work on the islands off the town of Helsinki brought the district a new and unexpected importance. The fortification of Helsinki and its islands began in January 1748, when Ehrensvärd, as a young lieutenant colonel, came to direct the operations. Fortifications were also built on the Russian side pf the new border during the 18th century and some of the Swedish ones were added to. Russia launched a campaign against Sweden and occupied Finland in 1808. The Russians easily took Helsinki in early 1808 and began bombarding the fortress. The Swedish period in Finnish history, which had lasted some seven centuries, came to an end.

After taking over the fortress, the Russians started an extensive building program, mostly extra barracks and extending the dockyard and reinforcement to the fortification lines. The long period of peace following the transfer of power was shattered by the Crimean War of 1853-56. The allies decided to engage Russia on two fronts and sent an Anglo-French fleet to the Baltic Sea. For two summers, the fleet shelled the towns and fortifications along the Finnish coast. The bombardment of Suomenlinna lasted 47 hours and the fortress was badly damaged. They were unable to knock out the Russian guns; after the bombardment the Anglo-French fleet sent no troops ashore and instead set sail for Kronstadt.

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Merja Jaakkola (direct swap) sent from Vantaa (Finland) on 15.10.2013

053 UNITED KINGDOM - Edinburgh Castle (WHS)

This postcard is definitly one of my all time favorites. Edinburgh Castle is only one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site which has the official name "Old and New Towns of Edinburgh". Edinburgh Castle marks the centre of the Old Town.
Edinburgh Castle is an historic fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland from its position on the Castle Rock. Archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since at least the Iron Age (2nd century AD), although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century and the site continued to be a royal residence until the Union of the Crowns in 1603. From the 15th century the castle's residential role declined and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrision. Its importance as a part of Scotland's national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half. As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite Rising of 1745. It has been besieged, both successfully and unsuccessfully, on several occasions.

Few of the present buildings pre-date the Lang Siege of the 16th century, when the medieval defences were largely destroyed by artillery bombardment. The most notable exceptions are St Margaret's Chapel from the early 12th century, which is regarded as the oldest building in Edinburgh, the Royal Palace and the early-16th-century Great Hall, although the interiors have been much altered from the mid-Victorian period onwards. The castle also houses the Scottish regalia, known as the Honours of Scotland and is the site of the Scottish National War Memorial and the National War Museum of Scotland. The British army is still responsible for some parts of the castle, although its represence is now largely ceremonial and administrative.

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pcbuyer (postcrossing) sent from Gourock (UK, Scotland) on 25.10.2013

052 NORWAY - Oslo City Hall

Oslo is the capital of and most populous city in Norway. Founded around 1000 AD and established a "kaupstad" or trading place in 1048 by King Harald III, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 and with Sweden from 1814 to 1905 reduced its influence. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was moved closer to Akershus Castle during the reign of King Christian IV and renamed Christiania in his honour. It was established as a municipality in 1838. Following a spelling reform, it was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925 when its original Norwegian name was restored.  Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are among the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers. It was ranked number one in terms of quality of life among European large cities.

Oslo City Hall houses the city council, city administration and art studios and galleries. The construction started in 1931, but was paused by the outbreak of World War II, before the official inauguration in 1950. Its characteristic architecture, artworks and the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, held on 10 December, makes it one of Oslo's most famous buildings. It was designed by Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson. The roof of the eastern tower has a 49-bell carillon which plays every hour. It's situated in Pipervika in central downtown Oslo. The area was completely renovated and rebuilt to make room for the new city hall, back in the late 1920s.

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Gerlinda Bloem (direct swap) sent from Valer i Solor (Norway) on 02.10.2013

051 MACEDONIA - Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region (WHS)

Ohrid is a city in the Republic of Macedonia and the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on the Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country with over 42 000 inhabitants. Ohrid is notable for once having had 365 churches, one for each day of the year and has been referred to as a "Jerusalem of the Balkans". The city is rich in picturesque houses and monuments, and tourism is predominant. The earliest inhabitants of the widest Lake Ohrid region were the Dassaretae, an ancient Greek tribe and the Enchelei, an Illyrian tribe. According to the recent excavations by Macedonian archaeologists it was a town way back at the time of king Phillip II of Macedon. The South Slaves began to arrive in the area during the 6th century AD. By the early 7th century it was colonized by a Slavic tribe known as the Berziti. The Bulgars conquered the city in 867. Between 990 and 1015, Ohrid was the capital and stronghold of the Bulgarian Empire. After the Byzantine reconquest of the city in 1018 by Basil II, the Bulgarian Patriarchate was downgraded to an Archbishopric and placed under the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

Lake Ohrid, straddles the mountainous border between southwestern Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, preserving a unique quatic ecosystem that is of worldwide importance with more than 200 endemic species. Lake Ohrid belongs to a group of Dessaret basins that originated from geotectonic depression during the Pliocene epoch up to five million years ago on the western side of the Dinaric Alps. Worldwide, there are only a few lakes with similarly remote origins. The water at the surface of Lake Ohrid moves predominantly in a counter-clockwise direction along the shore, as a result of wind forcing and earth rotation. However in an average winter only the top 150-200 meters of the lake are mixed, whereas the water below is stably stratified by salinity.

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Stefani Tabakovska (direct swap) sent from Skopje (Macedonia) on 07.10.2013

050 BELARUS - Nicholas Roerich, Boats

First of all, I would like to thank all the people who made it possible that I have more than 50 postcards now! Great job and keep sending postcards.
Secondly, this is absolutely a postcard which I don't like at all, I am not an art fan, but I will upload it anyways. But please keep in mind not to send me art cards.
Thirdly, it is really difficult to find out something about this postcard, but I can give you some informations about the painter and some key facts about the picture.

The painter Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947) also was a Russian writer, archaeologist, thesophist, enlightener philosopher and public figure. Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia to the family of a well-to-do notary public, he lived around the world until his death in Naggar, India. Trained as an artist and a lawyer, his interests lay in literature, philosophy, archaeology and especially art. Roerich was a dedicated activist for the cause of preserving art and architecture in times of war. He earned several nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. The so-called Roerich Pact was signed into law by the United States and most member nations of the Pan-American Union in April 1935.
This painting from Nicholas Roerich was painted in 1903. It has a size of 165 x 270 cm and is shown in the Russian city "Omsk" in the Omsk Regional Fine Arts Museum of M.A. Vrubel

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qwerchenok (postcrossing) sent from Minsk (Belarus) on 15.10.2013

049 NEW ZEALAND - Tongariro National Park (WHS)

Tongariro National Park is the oldest national park in New Zealand, located in the central North Island. It was the fourth national park established in the world. The active volcanic mountains Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro are located in the centre of the park. There are a number of Maori religious sites within the park and the summits of Tongariro, including Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, are tapu (sacred). Like the whole of New Zealand, Tongariro National Park is situated in a temperate zone. In 1886 in order to prevent the selling of the mountains to European settlers, the local Ngati Tuwharetoa iwi had the mountains surveyed in the Native Land Court and then set aside as a reserve in the names of certain chiefs one of whom was Te Heuheu Tukino IV, the most significant chief of Maori Ngati Tuwharetoa iwi. Later the peaks of Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngauruhoe and parts of Mount Ruapehu, were conveyed to The Crown on 23 September 1887, on condition that a protected area was established there

The postcard shows the beautiful Emerald Lakes at the Tongariro Crossing. The Emerald Lakes are three small crater lakes at Mount Tongariro. The Emerald Lakes fill explosion craters. Their brilliant colours are partly caused by dissolved minerals, washed down from the thermal area of nearby Red Crater, so it's impossible to go swimming in the lake.

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Susan Coughey (direct swap) sent from Auckland (New Zealand) on 19.10.2013

047 JAPAN - Himeji-jo (WHS)

Himeji-jo (or Himeji Castle) is a hiltop Japanese castle complex located in Himeji, in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest survivng example of prototypical Japanese Castle architecture, comprising a network of 83 buildings with advanced defensive systems from the feudal period. The castle is frequently known as Hakuro-jo ("White Egret Castle") or Shirasagi-jo ("White Heron Castle") because of its brilliant white exterior and supposed resemblence to a bird taking flight.

Himeji Castle dates to 1333, when Akamatsu Norimura built a fort on top of Himeyama Castle in 1346 and the remodeled into Himeji Castle two centuries later. Himeji Castle was then significantly remodeled in 1581 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who added a three-story castle keep. In 1600, Tokugawa leyasu awarded the castle to Ikeda Terumasa for his help in the battle of Sekigahara and Ikeda completely rebuilt the castle from 1601 to 1609, expanding it into a large castle complex. Several buildings were later added to the castle complex by Honda Tadamasa from 1617 to 1618. For over 400 years, Himeji Castle has remained intact, even throughout the extensive bombing of Himeji in World War II and natural disasters such as the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake.

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Mami Tateno (direct swap) sent from Tama City (Japan) on 06.10.2013

046 RUSSIA - Volcanoes of Kamchatka (WHS)

Kamchatka is a peninsula in the Russian Far East. It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the eat and the Sea of Akhotsk to the west. Although Kamchatka lies at similar latitudes to Great Brittain, cold arctic winds from Siberia combined with the cold Oyashio sea current result in the peninsula being covered in snow from October ot late May. The volcanoes of Kamchatka are a large group of around 160 volcanoes, 29 of them are still active. The highest volcano is Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4 750 m), the largest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere, while the most striking is Kronotsky, whose perfect cone was said by celebrated volcanologists Robert and Barbara Decker to be a prime candidate for the world's most beautiful volcano.

The volcano on the postcard is the Koryaksky which lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, at a point where the Pacific Plate is sliding under the Eurasian Plate at about 80 mm/year. A wedge of mantle material lies between the subducting Pacific Plate and the overlying Eurasian Plate in the source of dynamic volcanism over the whole Kamchatka Peninsula. Together with the neighbouring Avachinsky, it has been designated a Decade Volcano, worthy of particular sttudy in light of its history of explosive eruptions and proximity to populated areas. The volcano has probably been active for tens of thousands of years. Koryaksky erupted for the first time in recorded history in 1980. On December 29, 2008, Koryaksky erupted with a 20 000 foot plume of ash, the first major eruption in 3500 years.

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waterbutterfly1990 (postcrossing) sent from Stravropol (Russia) on 04.09.2013

045 POLAND - Zoological Garden in Wroclaw

Wroclaw, situated on the River Oder in Lower Silesia, is the largest city in western Poland. Wroclaw is the historical capital of Silesia and today it's the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. At various times it has been part of the Kingdom of Poland, Bohemia, the Austrian Empire, Prussia and Germany; it has been again part of Poland since 1945, as a result of border changes after World War II. Its population in 2011 was 631 235, making the fourth largest city in Poland.

Wroclaw Zoological Garden is a scientific zoo in Wroclaw. It's the oldest zoo in Poland, having been founded in 1865 as the Breslau Zoological Garden while the city was part of Prussia. It is also the largest (in terms of the number of animals) zoo in Poland. The zoo covers about 30 hectares (74 acres) in downtown Wroclaw. It's home to over 7 100 animals representing more than 850 species.

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postcardswall (direct swap) sent from Wroclaw (Poland) on 03.10.2013