Xinjiang Tianshan

This site, with beautiful landscapes, presents a lot of contrast between hot and cold environments: from snowy mountains to desert, but also with forests and meadows, clear rivers and lakes and red bed canyon. 

Heavenly Lake of Tianshan

This postcard was sent by Haley

Tianchi is an alpine lake in Xinjiang, Northwest China. The name literally means Heavenly Lake and can refer to several lakes in mainland China and Taiwan. This Tianchi lies on the north side of the Bogda Shan ("Mountain of God", Bogda is a Mongolian word meaning "God") range of the Tian Shan ("Mountain of Heaven"). - in: wikipedia

Qinghai Hoh Xil

Hoh Xil in Qinghai was listed among the World Heritage Sites as "the largest and highest plateau in the world".

Hoh Xil

This postcard was sent by Wei Tianyi

Hoh Xil or Kekexili, (Mongolian for "Blue Ridge", also Aqênganggyai for "Lord of Ten Thousand Mountains"), is an isolated region in the northwestern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. 

Despite the harsh climate, Hoh Xil is home to more than 230 species of wild animals, 20 of which are under Chinese state protection, including the wild yak, wild donkey, white-lip deer, brown bear and the endangered Tibetan antelope or chiru. The abundant plateau pika, a small burrowing rodent, is the main food of the region's brown bears; the bears also feed on the yak and antelope. - in: wikipedia

Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces

This region is well known for its spectacular rice-paddy terracing

Ailao Terraced Fields

This postcard was sent by Kolly

The Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, China covers 16,603-hectares in Southern Yunnan. It is marked by spectacular terraces that cascade down the slopes of the towering Ailao Mountains to the banks of the Hong River. Over the past 1,300 years, the Hani people have developed a complex system of channels to bring water from the forested mountaintops to the terraces. They have also created an integrated farming system that involves buffalos, cattle, ducks, fish and eel and supports the production of red rice, the area’s primary crop. The inhabitants worship the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, forests and other natural phenomena including fire. They live in 82 villages situated between the mountaintop forests and the terraces. The villages feature traditional thatched “mushroom” houses. The resilient land management system of the rice terraces demonstrates extraordinary harmony between people and their environment, both visually and ecologically, based on exceptional and long-standing social and religious structures. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1111

Kulangsu, a Historic International Settlement

Kulangsu, also known as Gulangyu, is a pedestrian-only island where the only vehicles permitted are small electric buggies and electric government service vehicles. Even bicycles are not allowed.

Kulangsu

This postcard was sent by Wei Tianyi

Kulangsu is a tiny island located on the estuary of the Chiu-lung River, facing the city of Xiamen. With the opening of a commercial port at Xiamen in 1843, and the establishment of the island as an international settlement in 1903, this island off the southern coast of the Chinese empire suddenly became an important window for Sino-foreign exchanges. Kulangsu is an exceptional example of the cultural fusion that emerged from these exchanges, which remain legible in its urban fabric. There is a mixture of different architectural styles including Traditional Southern Fujian Style, Western Classical Revival Style and Veranda Colonial Style. The most exceptional testimony of the fusion of various stylistic influences is a new architectural movement, the Amoy Deco Style, which is a synthesis of the Modernist style of the early 20th century and Art Deco. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1541

Bikin River Valley

This site is the home to Amur tigers, the largest felines in the world, but also of leopards and Asiatic black bears among others

Sikhote-Alin

This postcard was sent by Vadim

The Sikhote-Alin mountain range contains one the richest and most unusual temperate forests of the world. In this mixed zone between taiga and subtropics, southern species such as the tiger and Himalayan bear cohabit with northern species such as the brown bear and lynx. The site stretches from the peaks of Sikhote-Alin to the Sea of Japan and is important for the survival of many endangered species such as the Amur tiger. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/766/

Amur Leopard in Sikhote-Alin

This postcard was sent by Vera

The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is a leopard subspecies native to the Primorye region of southeastern Russia and the Jilin Province of northeast China.

Leopards cross between Russia, China, and North Korea across the Tumen River despite a high and long wire fence marking the boundary. - in: wikipedia

Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent

Derbent claims to be the oldest city in Russia and resembles a huge museum

Fortress of Derbent

This postcard was sent by Kate

The current fortification and walls were built by the Persian Sassanian Empire as a defensive structure against hostile nomadic people in the north, and continuously repaired or improved by later Arab, Mongol, Timurid, Shirvan and Iranian kingdoms until the early course of the 19th century, as long as its military function lasted.

A large portion of the walls and several watchtowers still remain in reasonable shape. The walls, reaching to the sea, date from the 6th century, Sassanid dynasty period.

Old Armenian Church

This postcard was sent by Vera

The city has a well-preserved citadel (Narin-kala), enclosing an area of 4.5 hectares (11 acres), enclosed by strong walls. Historical attractions include the baths, the cisterns, the old cemeteries, the caravanserai, the 18th-century Khan's mausoleum, as well as several mosques. The oldest mosque is the Juma Mosque, built over a 6th-century Christian basilica; it has a 15th-century madrassa. Other shrines include the 17th-century Kyrhlyar mosque, the Bala mosque and the 18th-century Chertebe mosque. - in: wikipedia

Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex

Russia is one of the countries from where postcards take more time to arrive. But the wait is worth it because postcards are usually great and most of the times they come with wonderful stamps, like these

Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex

This postcard was sent by Vera

The historical and archaeological site of Bolgar lies on the shores of the Volga River south of its confluence with the River Kama. It contains evidence of the medieval city of Bolgar, an early settlement of the civilization of Volga Bolgars, which existed between the 7th and the 15th centuries. Bolgar was also the first capital of the Golden Horde in the 13th century and remained an important trade centre in the time of the Kazan Khanate. The site preserves its spatial context with its historic moat and walls as well as its religious and civil structures, including a former mosque, a minaret and several mausoleums, bath houses, remains of a Khan's palace and shrine.

Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex 

This postcard was sent by Vera

Bolgar represents the historical cultural exchanges and transformations of Eurasia over several centuries, which played a pivotal role in the formation of civilizations, customs and cultural traditions. The Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex provides remarkable evidence of historic continuity and cultural diversity, the mutual influences of cultural traditions in particular at the time of the Volga Bolgars, the Golden Horde, the Kazan Khanate and the Russian state. Also, Bolgar was always located at the crossroads of trade, and economic, cultural and political communications and illustrates the interaction of nomadic and urban cultures. The historical and archaeological complex of Bolgar is a symbolic reminder of the acceptance of Islam by the Volga-Bolgars in 922 AD and, to Tatar Muslims, remains sacred and a pilgrimage destination. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/981