Saiga Tatarica

High-nose Antelope (Saiga Tatarica). High nose antelope Alias ​​saiga antelope big nose, is bovine, scientific name Saiga tatarica. Body length100 ~ 150 cm, shoulder height from 63 to 83 antelope cm, adult males weighing 37 ~ 60 kg, female 29 ~ 37 kg. Male with a horn, long 28 ~ 37 cm, the base about. are hundreds of large migration only.Activities during the day in winter and summer activities mainly in the twilight. The phenomenon of seasonal migration, moving south in winter the warmth of sunnyhillside area. Run very fast and have endurance, were nomads known as the “long-distance athlete.” Dominated by grass and shrub food. In autumn and early wintermating is not. Intense competition between male female phenomenon, but not for long. Pregnancy more than six months, each child 1-2 Aberdeen. China’s wild populations have become extinct, has been introduced back in Gansu and Xinjiangsemi-range, for the restoration of wild populations for experiments and research.Commonly referred to as valuable medicinal antelope horn, is from the high noseantelope. Junggar Basin of Xinjiang origin. Belong to the state level to protectanimals. This pretty maxicard was sent to me by Francoise from China.

Hot Air Ballooning on The Great Tea Route

For eventful tourism fans Kungur has something interesting. Its winds create perfect conditions for aeronautic sport. Now Kungur is considered to be one of the centers of air navigation in Russia. The annual international festival “Sky Fair of the Urals” is a branded event of Perm Krai. The festival program includes team competitions in hot air balloons, “Elephants’ dancing” show and opportunity to get off the ground for everyone. It begins with grand opening show on the “Trud” stadium that holds more than 1000 spectators. After what the air battles continue for 7 days and the city awakes. The fest traditionally ends with “Night lighting” of aerostats. Masha sent me this lovely card from Moscow, and with the pretty stamps affixed on it..

Notre Dame

Notre Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris), also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra (official chair) of the Archbishop of Paris, currently André Vingt-Trois. The cathedral treasury houses a reliquary with the purported Crown of Thorns.

Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in France and in Europe, and the naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture. The first period of construction from 1163 into 1240s coincided with the musical experiments of the Notre Dame school. The cathedral suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution in the 1790s, when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. An extensive restoration supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc removed remaining decoration, returning the cathedral to an 'original' gothic state.

Notre Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports). The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave. After the construction began and the thinner walls (popularized in the Gothic style) grew ever higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. The cathedral was essentially complete by 1345. Maria sent me this pretty card.

Unity of Chinese Ethnic Groups

Unity of Ethnic Groups - Marking the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (1949-1999). China is a multi-national country with 56 ethnic groups. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the PRC, the State Postal Bureau issued a set of 56 piece commemorative stamps, "Unity of Ethnic Groups-Marking the 50th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China (1949-1999)". The maxi card displayed has one of these 56 stamps. The card was issued on 1.10.1999. For those interested in the Hui people, the paragraphs below may be of interest.

The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese-speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travellers.

In modern People's Republic of China, the term "Hui people" refers to one of the officially recognized 56 ethnic groups into which Chinese citizens are classified. Under this definition, the Hui people are defined to include all historically Muslim communities in People's Republic of China that are not included in China's other ethnic groups. Since China's Muslims speaking various Turkic, Mongolian, or Iranian languages are all included into those other groups (e.g.,Uyghurs, Dongxiang, or Tajiks) the "officially recognized" Hui ethnic group consists predominantly of Chinese speakers. In fact, the "Hui nationality" is unique among China's officially recognized ethnic minorities in that it does not have any particular non-Chinese language associated with it.

The Hui people are of varied ancestry, many of whom are direct descendants of Silk Road travellers. Their ancestors include Central Asian, Arabs, and Persian, who married Han Chinese. Several medieval dynasties, particularly the Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, and Mongol Yuan Dynasty encouraged immigration from predominantly-Muslim Persia and Central, with both dynasties welcoming traders from these regions and appointing Central Asian officials. In the subsequent centuries, they gradually mixed with Mongols and Han Chinese, and the Hui people were formed. On account of this mixing and long residence in China, the Hui have not retained Central Asian, Persian, or Arabic names, using instead names typical of their Han Chinese neighbours; however, certain names common among the Hui can be understood as Chinese renderings of common Muslim (i.e. Arabic), Persian, and Central Asian names. This pretty card was given to me by Françoise.

Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed

The Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, popularly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is a Russian Orthodox church erected on the Red Square in Moscow in 1555–61. Built on the order of Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan, it marks the geometric centre of the city and the hub of its growth since the 14th century. It was the tallest building in Moscow until the completion of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in 1600.

The original building, known as "Trinity Church" and later "Trinity Cathedral", contained eight side churches arranged around the ninth, central church of Intercession; the tenth church was erected in 1588 over the grave of venerated local saint Vasily (Basil). In the 16th and 17th centuries the church, perceived as the earthly symbol of the Heavenly City, as happens to all churches in Byzantine Christianity, was popularly known as the "Jerusalem" and served as an allegory of the Jerusalem Temple in the annual Palm Sunday parade attended by the Patriarch of Moscow and the tsar. The building's design, shaped as a flame of a bonfire rising into the sky, has no analogues in Russian architecture: "It is like no other Russian building. Nothing similar can be found in the entire millennium of Byzantine tradition from the fifth to fifteenth century ... a strangeness that astonishes by its unexpectedness, complexity and dazzling interleaving of the manifold details of its design." The cathedral foreshadowed the climax of Russian national architecture in the 17th century. Under the Soviet Union the church was re-purposed and has operated as a division of the State Historical Museum since 1928. It was completely secularized in 1929 and, as of 2011^[update], remains a federal property of the Russian Federation. The church has been part of the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990.

It is often mislabelled as the Kremlin owing to its location on Red Square in immediate proximity of the Kremlin. This extremely pretty card was sent to me by Alena.

Ben Schonzeit

Born May 9, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. Ben Schonzeit, one of the old school original Photorealists is exhibiting this month at Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida.
With over 40 years of painting behind him, Ben is now widely recognized for his strong , photorealistic images of opulent flowers set against dramatic backgrounds. While being highly photorealistic, Schonzeit’s paintings also bend our perception by combining real and surreal imagery. His flower paintings are symbolic of the old with the new, and a general theme of passing time. Schonzeit’s works are settings for dreamscapes, full of melancholy, romantic irony, and intense color. This very pretty card with the wonderful ”forever” series of ship stamps was sent to me by My Good Friend Hemant.

Year End Trongsa Festival

Trongsa, situated along a gorge in the heart of the kingdom has a rich history dating back to 16th century. During the year 1541, a saint known as Lam Ngagi Wangchuk built a small retreat house, which was soon followed by many other retreat houses built by his disciples. The surrounding villagers seeing the area turning into a small village, started naming the place as Trongsar meaning, new village. Since then the place was known as Trongsa. It was in 1644 that Chhogyel Minjur Tenpa under the command of Shubdrung Nawang Namgyal built the fortress in its present form. About 300 years later Ugyen Wangchuk was unanimously elected as the hereditary king of Bhutan, during which Trongsa served as the capital of the nation until the 3rd King moved it to Thimphu. Since then Bhutan have enjoyed peace, stability and economic growth.

The local people in this valley celebrate their annual five-day festival after the harvest during the winter. This festival held in the courtyard of the fortress is one of the popular festivals in Bhutan. The festival begins with mask dances and ends with unfurling of huge ancient old Thangkha (Buddhist Religious Scroll) that is hung from a 3-story building.

One can truly appreciate the beauty of Bhutan in winter. There aren’t many tourist in the main areas, the crops are in, village rooftops are bright red with the colours of drying chillis, and the pace of life in the villages is slow as villagers spend most of their time basking in the winter sun. The sky is crystal clear as far as the eye can see with snow-capped mountains forming a backdrop of brilliant white against the azure skies. Jyotsna sent me this card from Trongsa.