This is the information about the photo on this card: Zhaitang Reservoir is on the River Qingshui in Mentougou, completed in September 1974, and the area it covers is 345 square kilometers, and its total capacity is 100 million cubic meters. The scenery here is beautiful. Green mountains, birds singing, and flowers are blooming and giving off their fragrance. Autumn is special when all the mountains are covered in red, which contrasts with the emerald green lakes to give a spectacular view. 

A nice postcard from Macau showing cannon placements in an old fort (?).  The sender is from Liwan  荔湾区 , an urban district in the city and province of Guangzhou. It is an area of 63 square kilometres and has 1 113 000 residents. On the back of the card the sender used postage stamps with Cao Yu  雷雨 (1910-1996), a Chinese dramatist. The sender says his favourite Cao Yu play is Thunderstorm. Thunderstorm was written in 1933. It tells a story of the disastrous effects of rigid traditionalism and hypocrisy on the wealthy, modern, somewhat westernized Zhou family. It centres on the Zhou family's psychological and physical destruction as a result of incest and oppression, caused by morally depraved and corrupt patriarch, Zhou Puyuan, a wealthy businessman. 

A great card commemorating Chinese athletes at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The sender says that Xie Siyi comes from his hometown of Shantou. Xie Siyi  谢思埸  has won four gold medals at the World Aquatic Championships and three Olympic gold medals. He first started as a 10 metre synchro diver but suffered a serious injuring in 2012. After that he focused on the springboard. He competes in the 1 metre, 3 metre, and 3 metre synchro events.  His four gold medals at the World Aquatic Championships are for the 1 metre springboard (2015), 3 metre springboard (2017, 2019), and 3 metre synchro (2019) He won his two gold medals at the Olympics at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning the 3 metre springboard event and the 3 metre synchro events. At the 2024 Paris Olympics he defended his Olympic gold medal in the 3 metre springboard event. A teammate took the silver. 

A great history card from Shelton, Washington. It is a drawing of Fort Vancouver, a Hudson Bay Company trading fort and the mouth of the Columbia River and controlled the Oregon Territory. At the time, Oregon Territory stretched to Alaska to California.  Fort Vancouver was built in the winter of 1824-25 and named for Captain George Vancouver of the Royal Navy. Captain Vancouver led the Vancouver Expedition through this part of the Pacific Coast in the late 1700s.  Trade goods from London would arrive at Fort Vancouver and the Indigenous people would trade furs pelts for them. Some of the furs collected at Fort Vancouver were shipped to the Qing dynasty through Guangzhou where they were traded for Chinese manufactured goods for sale in Britain. At its peak, Fort Vancouver controlled 34 outposts, 24 ports, six ships, and employed 600 men.  In 1946 Great Britain and the United States signed a treaty ceding the land around Fort Vancouver to the United States. Although the Hud...

A Christmas card from China. The sender recommends that I try morning tea, or yum cha  饮茶  that is a Cantonese tradition. It involves sharing tea and dim sum with family or friends at a table. 

The sender says she has recently fallen in love with sport and loves to go hiking.  Guangzhou is home to Guangzhou FC. They were formed in 1954. They are the most powerful football club in China today. Between 2011 and 2017 they won seven consecutive Chinese Super League titles, and 2 Asian Football Confederation titles (2013 & 2015). They were relegated in 2022 and currently play in China League One. 

Guangzhou  广州市  is a city with over 2200 years of history and has population of 18.7 million people, and 66 million people in its metropolitan area. Its located on the Pearl River about 120 km north-west of Hong Kong. It is a major port and transportation hub.  The Guangdong Leopards are in the Chinese Baseball League and play in the 1000 seat Tianhe Sports Centre. They were formed in 2002 and won their first league title in 2010, defeating the Beijing Tigers 2-0.  The Chinese Baseball League  中国棒球联赛 was founded in 2002 and ceased operations in 2018 after the establishment of the China National Baseball League. There are two divisions: Division 1 - Beijing Tigers, Guangdong Leopards, Jiangsu Huge Horses, Shanghai Golden Eagles, Sichuan Dragons, and the Tianjin Lions. Division 2 - China Society Baseball Club, Henan Elephants, People's Liberation Army Baseball Club, Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology Baseball Club.  Tianjin have dominated the leagu...