San Francisco - USA

From Kansas to California with two cards from São Francisco received in 2011. 

 US-1135820, sent by Prows Family.

"San Francisco it is the fourth most populous city in California and the 13th most populous city in the United States, with a 2010 estimated population of 805,235.

San Francisco is a popular international tourist destination, renowned for its chilly summer fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture and its famous landmarks, including the Golden Gate Brideg, cable cards and Chinatown." - in: wikipedia

The card shows 4 of the San Francisco landmarks, the victorian houses, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and Lombard Street.

This card, sent by Suzanne "stadler", shows the famous Painted Ladies, a row of Victorian houses at 710–720 Steiner Street, across from Alamo Square park, in San Francisco, also known as "Postcard Row." The houses were built between 1892 and 1896.

"Painted ladies" is a term used for Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings painted in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco Victorian houses by writers Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen in their 1978 book Painted Ladies - San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians

About 48,000 houses in the Victorian and Edwardian styles were built in San Francisco between 1849 and 1915 (with the change from Victorian to Edwardian occurring on the death of Queen Victorian in 1901), and many were painted in bright colors.

During World War I and World War II, many of these houses were battleship gray with war-surplus Navy paint. Another sixteen thousand were demolished, and many others had the Victorian decor stripped off or covered with tarpaper, brick, stucco, or aluminum siding.

In 1963, San Francisco artist Butch Kardum began combining intense blues and greens on the exterior of his Italianate-style Victorian House. His house was criticized by some, but other neighbors began to copy the bright colors on their own houses. Kardum became a color designer, and he and other artists such as Tony Cataletich, Bib Buckter and Jazon Wonders began to transform dozens of gray houses into Painted Ladies. By the 1970s, the colorist movement, as it was called, had changed entire streets and neighborhoods. This process continues to this day. - in: wikipedia

Kansas State Capitol - USA

These are 2 of the 3 cards I've from Kansas and I got them 6 and 7 years ago!! 

The 1st card was sent by Ron and the 2nd is an official. 

The Kansas State Capitol, known also as the Kansas Statehouse, is the building housing the executive and legislative branches of government for the U.S. state of Kansas. It is located in the city of Topeka, which has served as the capital of Kansas since it became a state in 1861. It is the second building to serve as the Kansas Capitol. - in: wikipedia

US-1051033, sent by "buzz_lightyear".

The building is home to one of the largest capitol domes in the United States - even surpassing that of the United States Capitol.

The land for Capitol Square was donated by Cyrus K. Holliday via his Topeka Town Company in 1862. Construction began during 1866 and took 37 years to build at a cost of $3.2 million. Today that figure would not even buy the marble floor. The building was placed on the National Register in 1971.

Postcrossing Meetings in São Paulo - Brazil

Didn't I say that postcrossers are becoming more creative and professional with their meetings cards?! Brazilian postcrossers in São Paulo created these cards for the meetings in April and July. Both cards were sent by Luzia. 

The São Paulo Museum of Art is an art museum located on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo. This 1968 concrete and glass structure designed by Lina Bo Bardi, is considered a landmark of the city and a symbol of modern Brazilian architecture.  

São Paulo os the most populous city in Brazil as weel in the southern hemisphere. The city's metropolitan area of Greater São Paulo ranks as the 11th most populous on Earth, with a population of 21.1 millions inhabitants and the largest Portuguese speaking-city in the world. 

TW-2303758

A very scenic road along Qingshui Cliff, considered as one of the Eight Wonders of Taiwan.

TW-2303758, sent by Fabienne.

Qingshui Cliff, located on the section of the Suao-Hualien Highway that stretches between Heping and Chongde stations, is one of the most spectacular sights on Taiwan's Pacific coast. The cliff is more than 1,000 meters high and drops almost vertically into the sea. The highway snakes along its curving face more than 20 kilometers, with the sheer cliff rising on one side and a sheer drop to the ocean on the other. - in: http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002124&id=2228

CN-2258355

Postcrossers are getting more and more creative and professionals when it comes to postcards from meeting. In the last months I've got a few nice cards designed for postcrossing meetings. 

Design aeronest

CN-2258355, sent by Chao.

This meeting in China took place in Shanghai, last 15th of July. I've counted 10 signatures on the back for the card. 

Qinghai Hoh Xil - China

The other chinese site added to the UNESCO WHS list was Qinghai Hoh Xil. 

Qinghai Hoh Xil, located in the northeastern extremity of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, is the largest and highest plateau in the world. This extensive area of alpine mountains and steppe systems is situated more than 4,500 m above sea level, where sub-zero average temperatures prevail all year-round. The site’s geographical and climatic conditions have nurtured a unique biodiversity. More than one third of the plant species, and all the herbivorous mammals are endemic to the plateau. The property secures the complete migratory route of the Tibetan antelope, one of the endangered large mammals that are endemic to the plateau. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1540

Kulangsu - China

This year China added 2 sites to the World Heritage List. Fortunately these are not that hard to get sites and I already got cards from both sites. Both cards were sent by Wei. This one is from Kulangsu, (also known as Gulangyu), an Historic International Settlement. 

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