2471 - Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China

I received a beautiful card of a watercolour from Hanzhou. I can't read the sender's name, nor is information about the artist included in English.

The writer is from Wenzhou 温州, a city of 3.6 million people; 9.5 million in the metropolitan area.

In 1995 Wenzhou was given the title of "City of Chess" by China Qiyuan, the agency responsible for all board games and card games in China. Ye Rongguang, Zhu Chen, and Ding Liren are all Chinese grandmasters from Wenzhou.

Zhu Chen became a grandmaster in 1999, becoming the seventh woman to do so. Grandmaster is a title bestowed by the International Chess Federation and is the highest title a chess player can achieve. The title is held for life, but in a few instances, has been revoked for cheating. Zhu married Qatari Grandmaster Mohamad Al-Modiahki and became a Qatari citizen in 2006. She now represents Qatar at competitions.

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3227 - Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Mölln is a small city of about 20 000 located in northern Germany. The Elbe-Lübeck Canal flows through the town, and there are eight small lakes that surround the city. It was founded in the 12th century and was a part of the Old Salt Route. Salt that was produced in the salt mines of Lower-Saxony was shipped to the Baltic Sea. Till Eulenspiegel, a legendary trickster known for exposing vices and provoking thought, is said to have lived in Mölln the last year of his life. He apparently died of the plague in 1350, but his existence has never been proven. Mölln has several monuments dedicated to him.

3322 - Hamburg, Germany

Happy birthday to me! What a lovely handmade card from the sender. Beautiful penmanship. Am Rothenbaum is the site of the main court of the German Open Tennis Championships. The International German Open has been played at the Rothernbaum since 1892, making it Germany's longest running tennis tournament. The current stadium was built in 1999 and can hold 13 200 people.

3232 - Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States of America

The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal North Pierhead Light was built in 1882. There were nine keepers of the light until 1897. It was redesigned in 1903 and is 12 meters high. The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal was started in 1872 and wasn't opened for large-scale watercraft until 1890. The canal is 2.1 kilometers long that goes from Sturgeon Bay in Lake Michigan to Green Bay. There are no locks on this canal. The canal was sold to the United States government in 1893 and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains the canal.

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