104 HONG KONG - Victoria Harbour and Peak Tower

Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour situated between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on the South China Sea were instrumental in Hong Kong's establishment as a British colony and its subsequent development as a trading centre. Throughout its history, the harbour has seen numerous reclamation projects undertaken on both shores, many of which have caused controversy in recent years. Environmental concerns have been expressed about the effects of these expansions, in terms of water quality and loss of natural habitat. It has also been proposed that benefits of land reclamation may be less than the effects of decreased harbour width, affecting the number of vessels passing through the harbour. Nonetheless Victoria Harbour still retains its founding role as a port for thousands of international vessels each year. Long famous for its spectacular views, the harbour is a major tourist attraction of Hong Kong. Lying in the middle of the territory's dense urban region, the harbour is the site of annual fireworks displays and its promenades are popular gathering places for tourists and residents.

The Peak Tower is a leisure and shopping complex located at Victoria Gap, near the summit of Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It also houses the upper terminal of the Peak Tram. Both the Peak Tower and the Peak Tram are owned by the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels group, the owner of Hong Kong's famous Peninsula Hotel along with many other properties. The tower and tram are jointly promoted by the collective branding known as The Peak. The Peak Tower is located at an elevation of 396 m, 156 m below the summit of Victoria Peak. Because the architects sought a design which would be prominent on the skyline but would not interrupt the natural line of the hills, they chose a site in a dip along the line of the hills, and restricted the tower's height to 428 m above sea level.

079 USA - A Bird's Eye View of Newport

Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. It is located 23 miles (37 km) south of Providence, and 61 miles (98 km) south of Boston. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and a major United States Navy training center. A major 18th-century port city, Newport now contains among the highest number of surviving colonial buildings of any city in the United States.  The city is the county seat of Newport County (a county that no longer has any governmental functions other than court administrative and sheriff corrections boundaries). Newport was known for being the city of some of the "Summer White Houses" during the administrations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. The population was 24,672 at the 2010 census.

Since the colonial era, Rhode Island would rotate its legislative sessions between Providence, Newport, Bristol, East Greenwich and Kingston and did not have a fixed capital. In 1854 the sessions in the cities other than Providence and Newport were eliminated and finally in 1900, Newport was dropped. A constitutional amendment that year restricted the meetings of the legislature to Providence. Connecticut was the only other state to have more than one capital at one time.

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Grayslate (postcrossing) sent from Barrington (USA) on 16.07.2013

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

029 SOUTH AFRICA - Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populated city in South Africa after Johannesburg and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. The city is famous for its harbour as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral kingdom, as well as for such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company as a victualling (supply) station for Dutch ships sailing to East Africa, India and the Far East. Jan van Riebeeck's arrival on 6 April 1652 established the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. As off 2011 the metropolitan region had an estimated population of 3.74 million.

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in the historic heart of Cape Town's working harbour is South Africa's most-visited destination, having the highest rate of foreign tourists of any attraction in the country. Situated between Robben Island and Table Mountain and set against a backdrop of sea and mountain views, it offers a variety of shopping and entertainment options to visitors, intermingled with office locations, the Somerset Hospital, hotels and luxury apartments in the residential marina. Prince Alfres, second son of Queen Victoria, began construction of the harbour in 1860. The first basin was named after himself, the second after his mother, hence the name.

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Isabel Rink Postcrossing (direct swap) sent from  Hannover (Germany) on 26.08.2013