Japan ShiKoku's Temples(IV-II) FDC

Japan FDC
Name: Cultural Heritage of Shikoku's Eighty-eight Temples IV-II
Issue date: 2007 Auguest 1st

The pilgrimage circuit of 88 temples on Shikoku is the road over 1400 kilometers to visit the temples related to Kukai (774-835), Buddhist priest. There are many National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties among the temples.

Japan ShiKoku's Temples(IV-I) FDC

Japan FDC
Name: Cultural Heritage of Shikoku's Eighty-eight Temples IV-I
Issue date: 2007 Auguest 1st

The pilgrimage circuit of 88 temples on Shikoku is the road over 1400 kilometers to visit the temples related to Kukai (774-835), Buddhist priest. There are many National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties among the temples. The road starts in Tokushima, going through Kouchi and Ehime, and ends in Kagawa.

Lithuania Museum FDC

Lithuania FDC
Name: From the Stocks of Museums, Trakai History Museum
Date of Issue: 28 July 2007

Trakai History Museum was established in 1948 in the former historical capital of Lithuania – Trakai. The Museum has Island and Peninsula Castles in Trakai and Medininkai Castle.

The expositions of the Museum, housed in Island and Peninsula Castles, cover China blue, glass, pipe, stamp and other collections as well as coin treasures. Separate themes are revealed in Karaim Ethnographic Exhibition and Sacral Art Exposition.

Trakai History Museum, which is located in the castles with honourable historical past and in an especially picturesque place, is one of the most popular with tourists and most visited objects in the country: every year over 300000 visitors from Lithuania and abroad visit the Museum and its impressive events.

Left Stamps: Chess Pieces. 15 c
Right Stamp: J. Kamarauskas. The New Trakai 1600. 1899

From the Stocks of Museums Series FDCs:
2007 Trakai History Museum
2008 Rokiškis Regional Museum
2009 Palanga Amber Museum

Russia Submarine Heroes FDC

Russia FDC
Name: Submarine Heroes
Issue date: 2007 July 25th

Nikolai Lunin(Left one) (1907-1970)

Sorry, I can't find more information of him in English, only found he was the commander of USSR submarine K-21 during the WWII and some information quote from Wikipedia.com.

"There is a claim made by Russian sources that the Tirpitz was attacked and damaged by a Russian submarine during the short sortie. The fleet was attacked by Russian submarine K-21, commanded by Hero of the Soviet Union N. A. Lunin, at 71°22′2″N 24°34′3″E / 71.36722, 24.5675 (45 miles from North Cape, Norway). Lunin fired four torpedoes at the Tirpitz and heard two detonations. There is a degree of controversy on this case: since the 1960s most German and British historians deny any torpedo hit, but in Russia this case is studied in naval schools as an example of canonical submarine attack."

Magomed Gadzhiev(Right one) (1907-1942)
Sorry, I can't find more information of him in English.

Russia Tamara Makarova EBCS

Russia EBCS (Envelopes Bearing Commemorative Stamp)
Name: The 100th birth anniversary of Tamara Fedorovna Makarova(1907-1997), the film actress
Issue date: 2007 July 16th

Tamara Fedorovna Makarova, film actress and teacher; People's Artist of the USSR in 1950 and Hero of Socialist Labour in 1982. She graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Stage Arts in 1930. She appeared in S. A. Gerasimov's films at Lenfilm Studio from 1927. She played over 30 roles that were mostly strong willed and persistent girls such as Zhenya Okhrimenko in Seven Brave Men of 1936, Natasha Kovaleva in Komsomolsk of 1938, Agrafena Shumilina in Teacher of 1939, and Nastya Kovshova in Invincible of 1944. Among other roles was Nina in Masquerade shot in 1941 based on M. Y. Lermontov's play. She lived and worked in Moscow after the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. She was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1941 and 1947.

Taiwan Coral-Reef Fish FDC

Taiwan FDC
Name: Taiwan Coral-Reef Fish (Issue of 2007)
Issue date: 2007 July 27th

This Post released Taiwan Coral-Reef Fish Postage Stamps (Issue of 2006) in July 2006. Now it is issuing another set of four postage stamps on this subject, planned by Dr. Shao, Kwang-Tsao of the Academia Sinica, featuring the fire goby, clown triggerfish, blue tang and bicolor parrotfish. Two stamps will have denominations of NT$5.00, a third a denomination of NT$12, and the remaining stamp a denomination of NT$25.00. The designs of the stamps follow:

(1) Nemateleotris magnifica ($5.00): Commonly known as the fire goby, it is a tiny fish with a yellow to pinkish-white body that turns red-orange at its tail. Its long first dorsal fin makes it appear to be carrying an antenna. It is a popular aquarium fish.

(2) Balistoides conspicillum ($5.00): A juvenile fish has a yellow snout, big round white spots on its body, and a patch of small yellow spots under its first dorsal fin. An adult fish only has these white spots on the lower half of its body. It has a yellow snout and a light blue band below its eyes, and its skin is very tough. When in danger, its first dorsal spine will be locked upright by its second dorsal spine. Because the mechanism is similar to the trigger of a gun, the fish is also called clown triggerfish.

(3) Paracanthurus hepatus ($12.00): Commonly known as the blue tang, it has a royal blue body. Its yellow caudal fin has a black stripe along the margin. The blue tang has one or more sharp blades on each side of the caudal peduncle, which it sticks out in self-defense when in danger. It has small ctenoid scales, which give its skin a sandpapery feel. Therefore, it is also called the "rough skin surgeonfish" in Chinese.

(4) Cetoscarus bicolor ($25.00): Commonly known as the bicolor parrotfish, it is a large fish. Males of this species have vivid coloration. Juveniles have white bodies and heads that are, apart from their snouts, entirely orange-red. When they grow to 5 to 8 centimeters long, they gradually turn gray, and their bellies become covered with black and white scales. As they enter what is called the initial phase, they may become females or males that have the beginnings of the adult male coloration. This coloration is different from that of supermales in the final phase.

China Pre-stamped Postcard JP143

China Pre-stamped Postcard
Name: The 10th Anniversary of Yangling Agricultural Hi-Tech Industries Demonstration Zone
Number: JP143
Issue date: 2007 July 27th

The Yangling Demonstration Zone of Agricultural Hi-tech Industries, was founded in 1997 with the approval of the Chinese Government. It's the unique State-level Demonstration Zone of Agricultural Hi-tech Industries and a Science & Technology Industrial Park opened to the APEC and also one of the five Hi-tech Industries Development Zones inclined to support by the Chinese Government during its 10th Five-Year Plan. It is situated at 82km west of the famous ancient city Xi'an and 70km from the Xi'an Xianyang International Airport. Railway and expressway transportations are very convenient.

Japan Letter Writing Day FDCs

Japan FDCs
Name: Letter Writing Day
Date of Issue: 23 July 2007

Five waka-poets and their poems have been chosen from "Hyakunin-isshu" as the representative ones for the five subjects respectively: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Love. The stamps depict so-called "Korin Caruta (playing cards by Korin)."

2007 Japan Letter Writing Day FDCs
2008 Japan Letter Writing Day FDCs

Philippines Bridges FDCs

Philippines FDC
Name: Philippine Colonial Bridges
Issue date: 2007 May 16th

Russia Khakassia FDC

Russia FDC
Name: The 300th anniversary of the voluntary affiliation of Khakassia to Russian State
Issue date: 2007 July 12th

From the 6th century Khakassia was the core of the old Kirghiz state. In the thirteenth century, following defeat by the Mongols, the majority of the Kirghiz people migrated southwest to their current homeland in Central Asia (Kirghizstan). Modern Khakassians regard themselves as the descendants of those Kirghiz who remained in Siberia. Khakassia was incorporated into the Russian state in 1707. In 1727 this was confirmed in a treaty between Russia and China. Tsarist policy was to deport convicted criminals from European Russia to Siberia and prisons were quickly constructed in Khakassia (1707 and 1718). Many prisoners stayed in the area on their release. Many of the indigenous Khakassian people converted to the Russian Orthodox church and were gradually forced to abandon their nomadic way of life. By the time of the Russian Revolution Russians made up approximately half of the population. Under Soviet rule autonomy was granted on 10 October 1930. During the 1920's and 30's the Soviet authorities resettled an estimated quarter of a million Russians in the region. These were followed by 10,000 Volga Germans deported in World War Two. By the time of the 1959 census ethnic Khakassians represented little more than one in ten of the population. Khakassia was given full autonomous republic status in 1991.

Khakassia Information in Wikipedia.com

Ukraine Locomotive FDC

Ukraine FDC
Name: Locomotive Engineering in Ukraine
Issue date: 2007 July 13th

Germany Lighthouses FDC

Germany FDC
Name: Lighthouses
Date of Issue: 12 July 2007

Designs:
0,45 €: Bremerhaven Oberfeuer
1855 (Simon Loschen). Active; focal plane 34 m (111 ft); white light, 2 s on, 2 s off, synchronized with the front light. 37 m (121 ft) square brick New Gothic tower with octagonal lantern. Tower is unpainted brick, lantern painted green. On the side of the tower is a large iron bracket structure formerly used to display storm signals. A photo appears at the top of the page, and Trabas also has a good photo. This elegant lighthouse could not be more different from the front range tower. Located about 200 m (220 yd) north of the front light, near the lock that provides entry to the Neuer Haven (originally the light keepers also operated the lock).

0,55 €: Hörnum
1907. Active; focal plane 48 m (157 ft); two white flashes, separated by 2.6 s, every 9 s. 34 m (112 ft) round cast iron tower with lantern and double gallery, mounted on a 1-story concrete base. Lighthouse painted red with one white horizontal band; lantern, watch room, and galleries painted black. Adjacent keeper's house now used as a registrar's office. A beautiful and popular lighthouse, sibling of the Pellworm and Westheversand lighthouses. Until 1930 the lighthouse served as the local school, with classes on the upper floors. Today the lighthouse is a popular tourist destination and site for weddings. Trabas has a wonderful photo, Schüler has the history of the station, and a local tourist site, Hoernum.de, has an informative page on the lighthouse. Located atop a dune at the end of the road at the south end of Sylt. Island accessible by causeway from the mainland.

2008 Latvia Akmeņraga Lighthouse FDC
2008 Estonia Mehikoorma Lighthouse FDC
2007 Germany Lighthouses FDC
2007 Indonesia Lighthouses FDC

Germany UNESCO FDC

Germany FDC
Name: UNESCO World Culture Heritage (Germany & Latvia Jointly Issue)
Issue date: 2007 July 12th

1. Historic Centre of Riga (Latvia)
Riga was a major centre of the Hanseatic League, deriving its prosperity in the 13th–15th centuries from the trade with central and eastern Europe. The urban fabric of its medieval centre reflects this prosperity, though most of the earliest buildings were destroyed by fire or war. Riga became an important economic centre in the 19th century, when the suburbs surrounding the medieval town were laid out, first with imposing wooden buildings in neoclassical style and then in Jugendstil. It is generally recognized that Riga has the finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe.

2. Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar (Germany)
The medieval towns of Wismar and Stralsund, on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, were major trading centres of the Hanseatic League in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 17th and 18th centuries they became Swedish administrative and defensive centres for the German territories. They contributed to the development of the characteristic building types and techniques of Brick Gothic in the Baltic region, as exemplified in several important brick cathedrals, the Town Hall of Stralsund, and the series of houses for residential, commercial and crafts use, representing its evolution over several centuries.

Russia Mitrofan Grekov EBCS

Russia EBCS (Envelopes Bearing Commemorative Stamp)
Name: The 125th birth anniversary of Mitrofan Grekov (1882-1934), the painter of battle-pieces
Issue date: 2007 July 5th

Mitrofan Borisovich Grekov(b Sharpayevka farm, nr Rostov-on-Don, 15 June 1882; d Sevastopol', 27 Nov 1934). Russian painter. He studied from 1899 to 1903 at the Odessa Art College under Kiriak Kostandi (1852–1921) and from 1903 to 1911 at the Academy of Arts, St Petersburg, under Il'ya Repin, but mainly under F. A. Frants Rubo (1856–1928), the leading Russian battle painter of the time. He adopted the name Grekov in 1911. As a soldier in World War I, he made many sketches at the front. He was an active member of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (AKhRR).

China Stamp: 2007-21

China Stamp
Name: The 80th Anniv. of the Founding of People's Liberation Army
Number: 2007-21J
Issue date: 2007 August 1st

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is the largest standing army in the world and includes naval, air, and strategic nuclear forces. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927, as the military arm of the Communist Party of China, and was named the Red Army until June 1946. The People's Liberation Army's insignia consists of a roundel with a red star bearing the Chinese characters for "Eight One" referring to August 1, the date of the 1927 Nanchang Uprising.

People's Liberation Army information in Wikipedia.com