Grigg Nanjing Friendship Chinese Garden

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Grigg Nanjing Friendship Chinese Garden at Missouri Botanical Garden

I was delighted to receive this postcard from my blog buddy Lynn. It's a view of the Grigg Nanjing Friendship Chinese Garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis. The Chinese Garden is modeled on the “scholar’s gardens” of the southern Chinese provinces near the city of Nanjing. It commemorates the exchanges between the Botanical Garden and Chinese botanical institutions, as well as the relationship between St Louis and its sister city Nanjing.

The Chinese Garden is said to be a showcase of craftsmanship. Among its special features are a pavilion built in traditional colors, a handcarved white marble bridge and marble balustrade. Among the plants are pines, bamboos, lotuses, willows, plum trees, forsythia, hibiscus, wisteria, rhododendrons and azaleas.

USPS stamps: adopt a shelter pet, Hawaiian rainforest

I think Lynn overstamped the card... lucky me :) The stamps on the left are two of the 10 from the USPS Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet issue, which was the postal service's social awareness stamp campaign of 2010. The stamp on the right is from the Hawaiian Rain Forest pane, a print of an acrylic painting by John Dawson. There are 10 stamps of flora and fauna in the pane. Very cool.

by liberal sprinkles

postcards of Minnesota, lady slipper, Eckankar

I received these two cards on the same day from my blog buddy Lynn. Thanks!

Minnesota postcard

postcard of Eckankar Temple

I've never been to Minnesota, in fact I've never seen the US Mid-West. I imagine lots of nature, wildlife and manufacturing (cars?) when I think of the Midwest. I don't know if that's a right picture of what the region is like, but the top postcard does show off some wonderful nature spots. I like how the middle photo is cropped in the shape of the state. I think the flowers at the bottom of that frame are lady slippers, which is the Minnesota state flower (I found this at the 50states.com site - nice information there!). The lady slipper (cypripedioideae) is a type of orchid. Here's a close-up photo of one.

lady slipper (from Wikipedia, public domain)

This little photo is on the back of the postcard. I'm not sure what animal it is...

back of Minnesota postcard

Minnesota is the headquarters of the Eckankar religious movement, which was founded in the US in 1965. The second postcard is a photo of the Eckankar Temple.


Related links
Explore Minnesota
Eckankar (wikipedia)
photos of lady slipper (google images)

Langkawi, batik and bougainvillea

Postcard sent from Butterworth, Malaysia. 4th of 4 that I received in one day this week.
Thanks, Intan Alee

postcard of Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach, Postcrossing MY-58859

I've been to Langkawi a couple times. The island in northwest Malaysia, just off the coast near the border with Thailand,  is a lovely getaway. Actually I should say I've been to the main island because Langkawi is really an archipelago of about 100 islands in the Andaman Sea. The main island has nice beaches and holiday resorts, the interior is relatively undeveloped and many parts remain a tropical jungle. The postcard shows Pantai Cenang beach along the main beach strip on the island's west coast.

Langkawi and other coastal areas in the Andaman Sea were among the places affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 which killed 230,000 people. Langkawi was was not as devastated as other places, thanks to its mangroves. Unfortunately, tourism and certain agricultural industries (shrimp-farming or instance) has harmed and destroyed many of the coral reefs and mangrove forests of South-east Asia, which used to be a natural defence against tsunamis. There is a link to an interesting article: Mangroves Stop Tsunami (Langkawi Magazine).

Malaysian stamps: bougainvillea and batik, Postcrossing MY-58859

Nice stamps depicting some South-east Asian staples: bougainvillea (bunga kertas in Malay, the national language of Malaysia) and batik. The bougainvillea plant is native to South America but it is now very common in South-east Asia.

Batik, cloth decorated in a specifc way wth wax and dye, is not just a traditional fabric in many countries in South-east Asia, it is also a common craft and an art form. An explanation of how batik is made from The Batik Guild (UK):

To make a batik, selected areas of the cloth are blocked out by brushing or drawing hot wax over them, and the cloth is then dyed. The parts covered in wax resist the dye and remain the original colour. This process of waxing and dyeing can be repeated to create more elaborate and colourful designs. After the final dyeing the wax is removed and the cloth is ready for wearing or showing.

To make modern batik, the artist might use different techniques (etching, discharge dyeing, stencils), tools and  wax recipes, as well as work with other fabrics (silk, cotton, wool) and materials (leather, paper, wood and ceramics).

The Indonesian batik was put on the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2009.

You can see some batik photos from Google images here, they are in the traditional style which is not my favorite. I've seen some gorgeous modern designs that are really beautiful. The aim of the Unesco list is to encourage local communities to protect their intangible cultural heritage and arts.



Related links
Mangrove forests protected areas from 2004 tsunami (Mongabay.com)
Facts about tsunamis (liberal sprinkles)
Bougainvillea Care (Plant-Care)
Tips on how to grow bougainvillea (eHow.com)
Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity (Wikipedia)



by liberal sprinkles

Lapland and Porvoo

Postcard from Porvoo, Finland. 3rd of four that arrived on the same day this week.
Thanks, Juho

campfire at Finnish Lapand, Postcrossing FI-1061662

You know, I love nature but I'm a total wimp when it comes to camping and being in the forests and the wilderness at night. I'm a city girl!

This is a photo of the Finnish Lapland, the largest and northmost region of Finland. I've sent a card to Lapland as well, and sent and received several to Finland (out of about 15). There must be a lot of Finnish Postcrossing members! If anyone from Finland is reading, I'd love a postcard of the northern lights!! Apparently you can see this in the Lapland. Look at some of the photos of Lapland and the northern lights from Google Images. It's amazing, one of the wonders of the world I hope to see one day.

The photo - Ilta Joella, a night at the river - is the work of photographer Jouni Törmänen (Taatsi Images), who specializes in nature, landscape, citylife and people. My card (dated April 3, 2011) was sent from porvoo by grandfather Juho, who says the lake is frozen this time of year.

I thought I'd look up Porvoo. It's a town in southern Finland, about 50 km (30 miles) from the capital Helsinki. It dates from the early 14th century and is one of only six mediaeval towns in Finland. It's old town has predominantly wooden houses (see some photos of Porvoo old town from Google), it reminds me of Swedish houses, not surprising since Finland used to be part of Sweden.

These  wooden storage buildings on the riverside are a proposed Unesco World Heritage site.

Porvoo riverside wooden houses, photo [ Wikipedia Commons ]

stamp of Finnish flag, Postcrossing FI-1061662

It's a stamp of  the Finnish flag. Look, it was not stamped!



Related links
Lapland Tourism info
Finnish Lapland travel guide (wikitravel)
Porvoo Tourism Office
History of Finland (Wikipedia)




by liberal sprinkles