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It is decorated with grotesque sculptures – every one of them different. Santa Maria church, Castro Urdiales.
Sicily, Italy.
Profilo pellicola Fujifilm Velvia. Ritaglio 3:2.
Fuji's Film Mode Velvia. No external post processing except crop and text watermark.
"Zero gravity, zero enemies, zero trouble."
---
Colonization in different aspects of the frontier requires four basic things: people, a method of transportation, supplies, and protection against external threats. We already have the first three but we barely have the last.
Wars and gunfights will happen in space and there's no denying it. But there needs to be something that can be used to hold off enemies in space and beyond. That's where the Active Responsive Adaptability platform comes in. Shown right here is the Assault model, developed by the Orbital Sector Research Armaments group in the late 2070s in an effort to provide people both on the ground and in space a weapon to protect themselves in every environment we've come across so far.
The ARA-A features a bullpup design which cuts down on length greatly, allowing the weapon to be maneuvered around quickly and easily. The size makes it easy to conceal as opposed to carrying a large rifle of the same role. Using an experimental gas system, whose schematics are kept private and under wraps for security purposes, the ARA-A can fire bullets at the same velocity as a typical assault rifle but with less explosive force, cutting down on muzzle flash size greatly, which is vital as said flashes and whatnot will tend to expand in vacuums and in space, lowering visibility. Rate of fire is clocked in at 850 RPM, but can be overclocked up to 1,150 RPM or even decreased to 680 RPM if needed for different purposes. Recoil mitigation technology is implemented as well to counter any possible traces of recoil by stabilizing the weapon in an effort to counter the kickback by providing a push in the opposite direction as per Newton's third law.
To further emphasize the short length, the barrel and flash hider are both integrated into the weapon. Barrel lengths are dependent on the receiver, and currently, only one length is available at the moment. By moving the bolt system behind the trigger grouping, the barrel is technically as long as a typical long-barreled assault rifle with a conventional bolt location. This allowed OSRA to make the barrel and flash hider integrated to make the rifle as short as possible.
Due to the fact that it is possible for the shooter to arrive in a dark area in space or on the ground, nighttime tritium sights are also included to provide some degree of visibility. To complement this, HUD systems also outline any identified enemies in red via ID cross-referencing, in which the system scans a target for possible identification (where the list is comprised of only allies and neutral subjects) and labels them accordingly. All targets unidentified are considered neutral (highlighted in green) until fired upon, in which the hostile turns red. The bolt mechanism will lock upon aiming at a neutral target to avoid accidental causalities, regardless if the weapon is set to full-auto, semi-automatic, or safe.
Electronics are also integrated within the rifle, such as the modular handguard, which features an integrated attachment for a variety of different roles. In this presentation model, the handguard is outfitted with a laser sight, which is visible to only the shooter. Using OSRA augmented reality HUD systems, the shooter can produce a laser sight in their field of view without anyone else seeing it unless they are linked to the HUD. This not only prevents enemies from seeing the flare of the laser sight but also provides the benefits of having one enabled for the shooter. Currently, the only modules available are the laser sight and a flashlight, which can also be seen only through AR.
Simulazione pellicola: Fujifilm Reala Ace.
Film simulation: Fujifilm Reala Ace.
No post processing external to camera except Crop 3:2 and Watermark.
“Grumman space shuttle orbiter concept with external hydrogen tands on a reusable booster.”
Yep, that’s how it’s written. And not a mention that it’s the “H33” Boeing/Grumman concept. No caption at all would’ve been a marked improvement.
Beautiful work, although the Floridian peninsula seems to be suffering from tectonically induced Peyronie's disease.
Possibly the work of Craig Kavafes? Or one of the other Grumman artists from that time...Bud Parke, Jim Rodriguez? Somebody else? Maybe a Boeing artist? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
www.astronautix.com/s/shuttleh33.html
Credit: Astronautix website
In color:
Specifically:
e05.code.blog/tag/h-33/#jp-carousel-3159
Both above credit: numbers station blog
Sourced from:
Credit: Internet Archive website
Finally:
www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld033.htm
Credit: PMView Pro website
A view of the exterior structures: our UHF antenna (used for spacewalks to transmit our communication), our lab WORF window shutter (we open it to take pictures (from the inside of course)), and Columbus in the background. It shows that when on a spacewalk we need to think carefully how we move and where we place our hands. Lots of sharp and delicate equipment everywhere! That shiny square on the left is the Atmosphere Space Interactions Monitor, or ASIM, or the Space Storm-Hunter as our communications people try to rebrand it. It is a Danish-led facility that monitors complex weather phenomena. For years pilots and researchers suspected things were happening above lightning cells but it was hard to research. Few pilots were crazy enough to fly into a thunderstorm (even for science!) and camping out on a mountain top for months in the hope a lightning strike would happen underneath was also not very efficient (scientists love efficiency, like astronauts!). The Space Station is ideal as we travel often over the equator where there are more thunderstorms and we fly relatively close over them. ASIM is a great success, confirming new phenomena happening in our world and it made the front page of Nature magazine, not bad for a box the size of a small fridge! #GoDenmark
Une vue de l’extérieur de la Station :
- les antennes UHF (utilisées pour communiquer lors des sorties extravéhiculaires)
- le hublot du laboratoire WORF derrière son volet, qu’on ouvre pour prendre des photos (en général de l’intérieur, oui :sweat-smile:)
- le laboratoire européen Columbus à l’arrière-plan
Vous comprenez sans doute mieux pourquoi, lorsqu’on sort dans l’espace, on doit être aussi attentif à la façon dont on se déplace et aux endroits où on s’agrippe : il y a des des équipements fragiles partout ! Le carré brillant à gauche, c’est notre chasseur de tempête ASIM (pour Atmosphere Space Interactions Monitor). C’est une installation danoise qui étudie les phénomènes météorologiques complexes au dessus des orages. Pendant des années, les pilotes et les scientifiques ont suspecté la présence de phénomènes lumineux au-dessus de ces gros nuages, mais c’était difficile à prouver. Peu de pilotes sont assez fous pour survoler un orage, même pour la science, et rester en haut d’une montage en espérant voir le dessus d’un orage, ce n’est pas très efficace (comme les astronautes, les chercheurs aiment l’efficacité). La Station spatiale internationale présente plusieurs atouts pour cette traque. Elle n’est pas très loin de la Terre, mais assez pour être au-dessus des nuages, et elle survole souvent l’équateur où les orages les plus violents se produisent plus souvent. ASIM fonctionne très bien, il a confirmé la présence de ces phénomènes lumineux don’t on commence à peine à comprendre le role, et ses résultats ont fait la une du journal scientifique Nature. Pas mal pour un instrument de la taille d’un petit frigo !
Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet
439B6387
Nouveau #FondDécran 📲 Ne serait-ce pas une IROSA que j’aperçois au dernier rang ? 😀
#Wallpaper 📲 Is that an IROSA I see in the back? 😀
Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet
439C5327
Je suis passé dans la Cupola pile au bon moment pour cette photo prise depuis le segment russe. D’ailleurs c’est une vue que vous ne reverrez plus maintenant que le module DC1 est parti ! Mais n’ayez crainte, le hublot du laboratoire MLM est encore plus grand et transparent 👌
.
I happened to be in the Cupola at the right time for a shot from the Russian segment, and it’s a view we will never have again since DC1 is now gone! Don’t fear, MLM windows are even better and bigger 😉
Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet
439C5821
Photo Copyright 2012, dynamo.photography.
All rights reserved, no use without license
++++++++ from wikipedia.org ++++++++
The Alishan National Scenic Area is a mountain resort and natural preserve located in the mountains of Chiayi County in Taiwan.[citation needed]
Contents
1 Geography
2 Climate
3 Topography
4 Vegetation and wildlife
5 History
6 Attractions and landmarks
7 See also
8 References
9 Bibliography
10 External links
Geography
Alishan Forest Park.
Dawn view from Alishan.
Alishan is 415 square kilometres (41,500 ha) in area. Notable characteristics include mountain wilderness, four villages, waterfalls, high altitude tea plantations, the Alishan Forest Railway, and a number of hiking trails. The area is popular with tourists and mountain climbers. Alishan, or Mount Ali, itself has become one of the major landmarks associated with Taiwan. The area is famous for its production of high mountain tea and wasabi.[citation needed]
Alishan is well known for its sunrises, and on a suitable morning one can observe the sun come up on a sea of clouds in the area between Alishan and Yüshan. Alishan and Sun Moon Lake are two of the best known scenic spots in Asia. The indigenous people of the area, the Thao people, have only recently been recognized as a discrete ethnic group. They have long been confused with the Tsou people.
Climate
Alishan National Scenic Area spans a broad range in altitude. Lower elevations, such as in Leye Township, share the same subtropical and tropical climate as the rest of southern Taiwan, while the climate changes to temperate and alpine as the elevation increases. Snow sometimes falls at higher elevations in the winter.[citation needed]
Alishan National Scenic Area covers most, but not all, of Alishan Rural Township in Chiayi County, as well as parts of neighboring townships in Taiwan.[citation needed]
Average temperatures are moderate:[citation needed]
Low elevations: 24 °C in the summer, 16 °C in the winter.
Medium elevations: 19 °C in the summer, 12 °C in the winter.
High elevations: 14 °C in the summer, 5 °C in the winter.
Topography
Alishan is mountainous:[citation needed]
Number of peaks above 2000 meters: 25
Highest point: Da Ta Shan (大塔山), 2,663 meters.
Average height of Alishan Mountain Range: 2,500 meters.
Vegetation and wildlife
Important trees in the area include:[citation needed]
Taiwania cryptomerioides, a large coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae (the same family as the next three species)
Chamaecyparis formosensis, or Formosan Cypress
Chamaecyparis taiwanensis
Cunninghamia konishii
Pinus taiwanensis, or Taiwan Red Pine
Picea morrisonicola, or Yüshan Spruce
Pseudotsuga sinensis var. wilsoniana, or Taiwan Douglas-fir
Abies kawakamii, a species of conifer in the Pinaceae family, only found in Taiwan
Tsuga chinensis var. formosana, Taiwan or Chinese Hemlock
Ulmus uyematsui, a species of elm only found in the Alishan region
History
Longyin Temple of Chukou Village in Alishan National Scenic Area.
Boardwalk at Alishan National Scenic Area.
The Alishan area was originally settled by the Tsou tribe of the Taiwanese aborigines; the name derives from the aboriginal word Jarissang. Ethnic Han Chinese settlers first settled on the plains near modern-day Chiayi as early as the late Ming Dynasty (around the mid-17th century), but did not move into the mountains until the late 18th century, establishing the towns of Ruili (瑞里), Ruifeng (瑞峰), Xiding (隙頂), and Fenqihu (奮起湖). The resulting armed clashes between the settlers and the aborigines pushed the aborigines even further into the mountains.[citation needed]
Following the cession of Taiwan to Japan at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, Japanese expeditions to the area found large quantities of cypress (檜木, or hinoki in Japanese). This led to the development of the logging industry in the area and the export of local cypress and Taiwania wood. A series of narrow-gauge railways were built in the area during this time to facilitate the transportation of lumber from the mountains to the plains below, part of which continues to operate as the Alishan Forest Railway. Several new villages also began to sprout up along the railway lines. It was also during this time that the first tourists began to visit the area. Plans were even drawn up to incorporate the area into the new Niitaka (New Highest) Arisan National Park (新高阿里山国立公園).[citation needed]
With the exhaustion of forest resources by the 1970s, domestic and international tourism overtook logging to become the primary economic activity in the area. The tourism industry continued to expand with the completion of the Alisan highway in the 1980s, displacing the railroad as the primary mode of transportation up the mountain. To combat the problems associated with the growing crowds of tourists and the expanding tea and wasabi plantations, the area was declared a national scenic area in 2001.[citation needed]
On 1 December 2014, fire broke out at Alishan spreading over more than 5 hectares of land. The area affected was located near Tapang No. 3 Bridge. The fire was believed to happen due to dry ground which was vulnerable to fire because of the absence of rain in the area for months.[1]
Attractions and landmarks
A Japanese-built train on the Alishan Forest Railway.
Fenqihu (奮起湖) is a small town of low wooden buildings built into the mountainside at 1,400 meters, midpoint of the Alishan Forest Railway. It is famous for natural rock formations, mountain streams, forests, and the ruins of a Shinto temple in the vicinity, as well as for its production of high altitude food products such as bamboo shoots and aiyu jelly (愛玉). The local box lunches (奮起湖便當, Fenqihu bento), which were once sold to passengers on the rail line, are also well known.[citation needed]
Taiwan (/ˌtaɪˈwɑːn/ (About this sound listen)), officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a state in East Asia. Its neighbors include China (officially the People's Republic of China, PRC) to the west, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. Taiwan is the most populous state that is not a member of the United Nations and the largest economy outside the UN.
The island of Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, was inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before the 17th century, when Dutch and Spanish colonies opened the island to mass Han immigration. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the last dynasty of China. The Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China (ROC) was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty. Following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the ROC's loss of the mainland to the Communists, and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. Although the ROC continued to claim to be the legitimate government of China, its effective jurisdiction has since the loss of Hainan in 1950 been limited to Taiwan and its surrounding islands, with the main island making up 99% of its de facto territory. As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to represent China at the United Nations until 1971, when the PRC assumed China's seat, causing the ROC to lose its UN membership.
In the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with a semi-presidential system. Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, healthcare,[15] public education, economic freedom, and human development.[d][13][16] The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most highly educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentages of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree.[17][18]
The PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC. Today 20 countries recognize the ROC as the sole legal representative of China,[19] but many other states maintain unofficial ties through representative offices and institutions that function as de facto embassies and consulates. Although Taiwan is fully self-governing, most international organizations in which the PRC participates either refuse to grant membership to Taiwan or allow it to participate only as a non-state actor. Internally, the major division in politics is between the aspirations of eventual Chinese unification or Taiwanese independence, though both sides have moderated their positions to broaden their appeal. The PRC has threatened the use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible.[20]
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Prehistoric Taiwan
2.2 Opening in the 17th century
2.3 Qing rule
2.4 Japanese rule
2.5 After World War II
2.6 Chinese Nationalist one-party rule
2.7 Democratization
3 Geography
3.1 Climate
3.2 Geology
4 Political and legal status
4.1 Relations with the PRC
4.2 Foreign relations
4.3 Participation in international events and organizations
4.4 Opinions within Taiwan
5 Government and politics
5.1 Major camps
5.2 Current political issues
5.3 National identity
6 Military
7 Administrative divisions
8 Economy and industry
9 Transportation
10 Education, research, and academia
11 Demographics
11.1 Ethnic groups
11.2 Languages
11.3 Religion
11.4 Largest cities
12 Public health
13 Culture
13.1 Sports
13.2 Calendar
14 See also
15 Notes
16 References
16.1 Citations
16.2 Works cited
17 Further reading
18 External links
18.1 Overviews and data
18.2 Government agencies
Etymology
See also: Chinese Taipei, Formosa, and Names of China
Taiwan
Taiwan (Chinese characters).svg
"Taiwan" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 臺灣 or 台灣
Simplified Chinese 台湾
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Táiwān
Bopomofo ㄊㄞˊ ㄨㄢ
Gwoyeu Romatzyh Tair'uan
Wade–Giles T'ai²-wan¹
Tongyong Pinyin Táiwan
IPA [tʰǎi.wán]
other Mandarin
Xiao'erjing تَاَىْوًا
Wu
Romanization The平-uae平
Xiang
IPA dwɛ13 ua44
Hakka
Romanization Thòi-vàn
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization Tòiwāan
Jyutping Toi4waan1
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ Tâi-oân
Tâi-lô Tâi-uân
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUC Dài-uăng
China
Traditional Chinese 中國
Simplified Chinese 中国
Literal meaning Middle or Central State[21]
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó
Bopomofo ㄓㄨㄥ ㄍㄨㄛˊ
Gwoyeu Romatzyh Jong'gwo
Wade–Giles Chung1-kuo2
Tongyong Pinyin Jhongguó
MPS2 Jūng-guó
IPA [ʈʂʊ́ŋ.kwǒ]
other Mandarin
Xiao'erjing ﺟْﻮﻗُﻮَع
Sichuanese Pinyin Zong1 gwe2
Wu
Romanization Tson平-koh入
Gan
Romanization Tung-koe̍t
Xiang
IPA Tan33-kwɛ24/
Hakka
Romanization Dung24-gued2
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization Jūnggwok
Jyutping Zung1gwok3
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ Tiong-kok
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUC Dṳ̆ng-guók
Pu-Xian Min
Hinghwa BUC De̤ng-go̤h
Northern Min
Jian'ou Romanized Dô̤ng-gŏ
Republic of China
Traditional Chinese 中華民國
Simplified Chinese 中华民国
Postal Chunghwa Minkuo
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Zhōnghuá Mínguó
Bopomofo ㄓㄨㄥ ㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ
Gwoyeu Romatzyh Jonghwa Min'gwo
Wade–Giles Chung¹-hua² Min²-kuo²
Tongyong Pinyin Jhonghuá Mínguó
MPS2 Jūng-huá Mín-guó
IPA [ʈʂʊ́ŋxwǎ mǐnkwǒ]
other Mandarin
Xiao'erjing ﺟْﻮ ﺧُﻮَ مٍ ﻗُﻮَع
Wu
Romanization tson平 gho平 min平 koh入
Gan
Romanization tung1 fa4 min4 koet7
Hakka
Romanization Chûng-fà Mìn-koet
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization Jūngwà màn'gwok
Jyutping Zung1waa4 man4gwok3
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ Tiong-hôa Bîn-kok
Tâi-lô Tiong-hûa Bîn-kok
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUC Dṳ̆ng-huà Mìng-guók
Japanese name
Kanji 台湾
Kana たいわん
Kyūjitai 臺灣
Transcriptions
Romanization Taiwan
There are various names for the island of Taiwan in use today, derived from explorers or rulers by each particular period. The former name Formosa (福爾摩沙) dates from 1542,[verification needed] when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means "beautiful island".[22] The name "Formosa" eventually "replaced all others in European literature"[23] and was in common use in English in the early 20th century.[24]
In the early 17th century, the Dutch East India Company established a commercial post at Fort Zeelandia (modern-day Anping, Tainan) on a coastal sandbar called "Tayouan",[25] after their ethnonym for a nearby Taiwanese aboriginal tribe, written by the Dutch and Portuguese variously as Taiouwang, Tayowan, Teijoan, etc.[26] This name was also adopted into the Chinese vernacular (in particular, Hokkien, as Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tāi-oân/Tâi-oân) as the name of the sandbar and nearby area (Tainan). The modern word "Taiwan" is derived from this usage, which is seen in various forms (大員, 大圓, 大灣, 臺員, 臺圓 and 臺窩灣) in Chinese historical records. The area of modern-day Tainan was the first permanent settlement by Western colonists and Chinese immigrants, grew to be the most important trading centre, and served as the capital of the island until 1887. Use of the current Chinese name (臺灣) was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture. Through its rapid development, the entire Formosan mainland eventually became known as "Taiwan".[27][28][29][30]
In his Daoyi Zhilüe (1349), Wang Dayuan used "Liuqiu" as a name for the island of Taiwan, or the part of it near to Penghu.[31] Elsewhere, the name was used for the Ryukyu Islands in general or Okinawa, the largest of them; indeed the name Ryūkyū is the Japanese form of Liúqiú. The name also appears in the Book of Sui (636) and other early works, but scholars cannot agree on whether these references are to the Ryukyus, Taiwan or even Luzon.[32]
The official name of the state is the "Republic of China"; it has also been known under various names throughout its existence. Shortly after the ROC's establishment in 1912, while it was still located on the Chinese mainland, the government used the short form "China" Zhōngguó (中國), to refer to itself, which derives from zhōng ("central" or "middle") and guó ("state, nation-state"), [e] A term which also developed under the Zhou Dynasty in reference to its royal demesne[f] and the name was then applied to the area around Luoyi (present-day Luoyang) during the Eastern Zhou and then to China's Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qingera .[34] During the 1950s and 1960s, after the government had fled to Taiwan due to losing the Chinese Civil War, it was commonly referred to as "Nationalist China" (or "Free China") to differentiate it from "Communist China" (or "Red China").[36] It was a member of the United Nations representing "China" until 1971, when it lost its seat to the People's Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become commonly known as "Taiwan", after the island that comprises 99% of the territory under its control. In some contexts, especially official ones from the ROC government, the name is written as "Republic of China (Taiwan)", "Republic of China/Taiwan", or sometimes "Taiwan (ROC)."[37] The Republic of China participates in most international forums and organizations under the name "Chinese Taipei" due to diplomatic pressure from the People's Republic of China. For instance, it is the name under which it has competed at the Olympic Games since 1984, and its name as an observer at the World Health Organization.[38]
History
Main articles: History of Taiwan and History of the Republic of China
See the History of China article for historical information in the Chinese Mainland before 1949.
Prehistoric Taiwan
Main article: Prehistory of Taiwan
A young Tsou man
Taiwan was joined to the mainland in the Late Pleistocene, until sea levels rose about 10,000 years ago. Fragmentary human remains dated 20,000 to 30,000 years ago have been found on the island, as well as later artefacts of a Paleolithic culture.[39][40][41]
Around 6,000 years ago, Taiwan was settled by farmers, most likely from mainland China.[42] They are believed to be the ancestors of today's Taiwanese aborigines, whose languages belong to the Austronesian language family, but show much greater diversity than the rest of the family, which spans a huge area from Maritime Southeast Asia west to Madagascar and east as far as New Zealand, Hawaii and Easter Island. This has led linguists to propose Taiwan as the urheimat of the family, from which seafaring peoples dispersed across Southeast Asia and the Pacific and Indian Oceans.[43][44]
Han Chinese fishermen began settling in the Penghu islands in the 13th century, but Taiwan's hostile tribes and its lack of valuable trade products meant that few outsiders visited the island until the 16th century, when visits to the coast by fishermen from Fujian and Chinese and Japanese pirates became more frequent.[45]
Opening in the 17th century
Main articles: Dutch Formosa, Spanish Formosa, and Kingdom of Tungning
Fort Zeelandia, the Governor's residence in Dutch Formosa
The Dutch East India Company attempted to establish a trading outpost on the Penghu Islands (Pescadores) in 1622, but were militarily defeated and driven off by the Ming authorities.[46]
In 1624, the company established a stronghold called Fort Zeelandia on the coastal islet of Tayouan, which is now part of the main island at Anping, Tainan.[30] David Wright, a Scottish agent of the company who lived on the island in the 1650s, described the lowland areas of the island as being divided among 11 chiefdoms ranging in size from two settlements to 72. Some of these fell under Dutch control, while others remained independent.[30][47] The Company began to import labourers from Fujian and Penghu (Pescadores), many of whom settled.[46]
In 1626, the Spanish Empire landed on and occupied northern Taiwan, at the ports of Keelung and Tamsui, as a base to extend their trading. This colonial period lasted 16 years until 1642, when the last Spanish fortress fell to Dutch forces.
Following the fall of the Ming dynasty, Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong), a self-styled Ming loyalist, arrived on the island and captured Fort Zeelandia in 1662, expelling the Dutch Empire and military from the island. Koxinga established the Kingdom of Tungning (1662–1683), with his capital at Tainan. He and his heirs, Zheng Jing, who ruled from 1662 to 1682, and Zheng Keshuang, who ruled less than a year, continued to launch raids on the southeast coast of mainland China well into the Qing dynasty era.[46]
Qing rule
Main article: Taiwan under Qing Dynasty rule
Hunting deer, painted in 1746
In 1683, following the defeat of Koxinga's grandson by an armada led by Admiral Shi Lang of southern Fujian, the Qing dynasty formally annexed Taiwan, placing it under the jurisdiction of Fujian province. The Qing imperial government tried to reduce piracy and vagrancy in the area, issuing a series of edicts to manage immigration and respect aboriginal land rights. Immigrants mostly from southern Fujian continued to enter Taiwan. The border between taxpaying lands and "savage" lands shifted eastward, with some aborigines becoming sinicized while others retreated into the mountains. During this time, there were a number of conflicts between groups of Han Chinese from different regions of southern Fujian, particularly between those from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, and between southern Fujian Chinese and aborigines.
Northern Taiwan and the Penghu Islands were the scene of subsidiary campaigns in the Sino-French War (August 1884 to April 1885). The French occupied Keelung on 1 October 1884, but were repulsed from Tamsui a few days later. The French won some tactical victories but were unable to exploit them, and the Keelung Campaign ended in stalemate. The Pescadores Campaign, beginning on 31 March 1885, was a French victory, but had no long-term consequences. The French evacuated both Keelung and the Penghu archipelago after the end of the war.
In 1887, the Qing upgraded the island's administration from Taiwan Prefecture of Fujian to Fujian-Taiwan-Province (福建臺灣省), the twentieth in the empire, with its capital at Taipei. This was accompanied by a modernization drive that included building China's first railroad.[48]
Japanese rule
Main articles: Taiwan under Japanese rule and Republic of Formosa
Japanese colonial soldiers march Taiwanese captured after the Tapani Incident from the Tainan jail to court, 1915.
As the Qing dynasty was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), Taiwan, along with Penghu and Liaodong Peninsula, were ceded in full sovereignty to the Empire of Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Inhabitants on Taiwan and Penghu wishing to remain Qing subjects were given a two-year grace period to sell their property and move to mainland China. Very few Taiwanese saw this as feasible.[49] On 25 May 1895, a group of pro-Qing high officials proclaimed the Republic of Formosa to resist impending Japanese rule. Japanese forces entered the capital at Tainan and quelled this resistance on 21 October 1895.[50] Guerrilla fighting continued periodically until about 1902 and ultimately took the lives of 14,000 Taiwanese, or 0.5% of the population.[51] Several subsequent rebellions against the Japanese (the Beipu uprising of 1907, the Tapani incident of 1915, and the Musha incident of 1930) were all unsuccessful but demonstrated opposition to Japanese colonial rule.
Japanese colonial rule was instrumental in the industrialization of the island, extending the railroads and other transportation networks, building an extensive sanitation system, and establishing a formal education system.[52] Japanese rule ended the practice of headhunting.[53] During this period the human and natural resources of Taiwan were used to aid the development of Japan and the production of cash crops such as rice and sugar greatly increased. By 1939, Taiwan was the seventh greatest sugar producer in the world.[54] Still, the Taiwanese and aborigines were classified as second- and third-class citizens. After suppressing Chinese guerrillas in the first decade of their rule, Japanese authorities engaged in a series of bloody campaigns against the mountain aboriginals, culminating in the Musha Incident of 1930.[55] Also, those intellectual and labours who participated in left-wing movement of Taiwan were arrested and massacred (e.g. Tsiúnn Uī-Suí(蔣渭水), masanosuke watanabe(渡辺政之辅)).[56]
Around 1935, the Japanese began an island-wide assimilation project to bind the island more firmly to the Japanese Empire and people were taught to see themselves as Japanese under the Kominka Movement, during which time Taiwanese culture and religion were outlawed and the citizens were encouraged to adopt Japanese surnames.[57] The "South Strike Group" was based at the Taihoku Imperial University in Taipei. During World War II, tens of thousands of Taiwanese served in the Japanese military.[58] For example, former ROC President Lee Teng-hui's elder brother served in the Japanese navy and was killed in action in the Philippines in February 1945. The Imperial Japanese Navy operated heavily out of Taiwanese ports. In October 1944, the Formosa Air Battle was fought between American carriers and Japanese forces based in Taiwan. Important Japanese military bases and industrial centres throughout Taiwan, like Kaohsiung, were targets of heavy American bombings.[59] Also during this time, over 2,000 women were forced into sexual slavery for Imperial Japanese troops, now euphemistically called "comfort women."[60]
In 1938, there were 309,000 Japanese settlers in Taiwan.[61] After World War II, most of the Japanese were expelled and sent to Japan.[62]
After World War II
Main article: Taiwan after World War II
General Chen Yi (right) accepting the receipt of General Order No. 1 from Rikichi Andō (left), the last Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan, in Taipei City Hall
On 25 October 1945, the US Navy ferried ROC troops to Taiwan in order to accept the formal surrender of Japanese military forces in Taipei on behalf of the Allied Powers, as part of General Order No. 1 for temporary military occupation. General Rikichi Andō, governor-general of Taiwan and commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces on the island, signed the receipt and handed it over to General Chen Yi of the ROC military to complete the official turnover. Chen Yi proclaimed that day to be "Taiwan Retrocession Day", but the Allies considered Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to be under military occupation and still under Japanese sovereignty until 1952, when the Treaty of San Francisco took effect.[63][64] Although the 1943 Cairo Declaration had envisaged returning these territories to China, in the Treaty of San Francisco and Treaty of Taipei Japan has renounced all claim to them without specifying to what country they were to be surrendered. This introduced the problem of the legal status of Taiwan.
The ROC administration of Taiwan under Chen Yi was strained by increasing tensions between Taiwanese-born people and newly arrived mainlanders, which were compounded by economic woes, such as hyperinflation. Furthermore, cultural and linguistic conflicts between the two groups quickly led to the loss of popular support for the new government, while the mass movement led by the working committee of the communist also aimed to bring down the Kuomintang government.[65][66] The shooting of a civilian on 28 February 1947 triggered island-wide unrest, which was suppressed with military force in what is now called the February 28 Incident. Mainstream estimates of the number killed range from 18,000 to 30,000. Those killed were mainly members of the Taiwanese elite.[67][68]
Chinese Nationalist one-party rule
Main articles: Chinese Civil War, Chinese Communist Revolution, and History of the Republic of China § Republic of China on Taiwan (1949–present)
For the history of Republic of China before 1949, see Republic of China (1912–49).
The Nationalists' retreat to Taipei: after the Nationalists lost Nanjing (Nanking) they next moved to Guangzhou (Canton), then to Chongqing (Chungking), Chengdu (Chengtu) and Xichang (Sichang) before arriving in Taipei.
After the end of World War II, the Chinese Civil War resumed between the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang), led by Chiang Kai-shek, and the Communist Party of China, led by Mao Zedong. Throughout the months of 1949, a series of Chinese Communist offensives led to the capture of its capital Nanjing on 23 April and the subsequent defeat of the Nationalist army on the mainland, and the Communists founded the People's Republic of China on 1 October.[69]
On 7 December 1949, after the loss of four capitals, Chiang evacuated his Nationalist government to Taiwan and made Taipei the temporary capital of the ROC (also called the "wartime capital" by Chiang Kai-shek).[70] Some 2 million people, consisting mainly of soldiers, members of the ruling Kuomintang and intellectual and business elites, were evacuated from mainland China to Taiwan at that time, adding to the earlier population of approximately six million. In addition, the ROC government took to Taipei many national treasures and much of China's gold reserves and foreign currency reserves.[71][72][73]
After losing most of the mainland, the Kuomintang held remaining control of Tibet, the portions of Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Yunnan provinces along with the Hainan Island until 1951 before the Communists subsequently captured both territories. From this point onwards, the Kuomintang's territory was reduced to Taiwan, Penghu, the portions of the Fujian province (Kinmen and Matsu Islands), and two major islands of Dongsha Islands and Nansha Islands. The Kuomintang continued to claim sovereignty over all "China", which it defined to include mainland China, Taiwan, Outer Mongolia and other areas. On mainland China, the victorious Communists claimed they ruled the sole and only China (which they claimed included Taiwan) and that the Republic of China no longer existed.[74]
A Chinese man in military uniform, smiling and looking towards the left. He holds a sword in his left hand and has a medal in shape of a sun on his chest.
Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang from 1925 until his death in 1975
Martial law, declared on Taiwan in May 1949,[75] continued to be in effect after the central government relocated to Taiwan. It was not repealed until 1987,[75] and was used as a way to suppress the political opposition in the intervening years.[76] During the White Terror, as the period is known, 140,000 people were imprisoned or executed for being perceived as anti-KMT or pro-Communist.[77] Many citizens were arrested, tortured, imprisoned and executed for their real or perceived link to the Communists. Since these people were mainly from the intellectual and social elite, an entire generation of political and social leaders was decimated. In 1998 law was passed to create the "Compensation Foundation for Improper Verdicts" which oversaw compensation to White Terror victims and families. President Ma Ying-jeou made an official apology in 2008, expressing hope that there will never be a tragedy similar to White Terror.[78]
Initially, the United States abandoned the KMT and expected that Taiwan would fall to the Communists. However, in 1950 the conflict between North Korea and South Korea, which had been ongoing since the Japanese withdrawal in 1945, escalated into full-blown war, and in the context of the Cold War, US President Harry S. Truman intervened again and dispatched the US Navy's 7th Fleet into the Taiwan Strait to prevent hostilities between Taiwan and mainland China.[79] In the Treaty of San Francisco and the Treaty of Taipei, which came into force respectively on 28 April 1952 and 5 August 1952, Japan formally renounced all right, claim and title to Taiwan and Penghu, and renounced all treaties signed with China before 1942. Neither treaty specified to whom sovereignty over the islands should be transferred, because the United States and the United Kingdom disagreed on whether the ROC or the PRC was the legitimate government of China.[80] Continuing conflict of the Chinese Civil War through the 1950s, and intervention by the United States notably resulted in legislation such as the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty and the Formosa Resolution of 1955.
With President Chiang Kai-shek, the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower waved to crowds during his visit to Taipei in June 1960.
As the Chinese Civil War continued without truce, the government built up military fortifications throughout Taiwan. Within this effort, KMT veterans built the now famous Central Cross-Island Highway through the Taroko Gorge in the 1950s. The two sides would continue to engage in sporadic military clashes with seldom publicized details well into the 1960s on the China coastal islands with an unknown number of night raids. During the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in September 1958, Taiwan's landscape saw Nike-Hercules missile batteries added, with the formation of the 1st Missile Battalion Chinese Army that would not be deactivated until 1997. Newer generations of missile batteries have since replaced the Nike Hercules systems throughout the island.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the ROC maintained an authoritarian, single-party government while its economy became industrialized and technology oriented. This rapid economic growth, known as the Taiwan Miracle, was the result of a fiscal regime independent from mainland China and backed up, among others, by the support of US funds and demand for Taiwanese products.[81][82] In the 1970s, Taiwan was economically the second fastest growing state in Asia after Japan.[83] Taiwan, along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore, became known as one of the Four Asian Tigers. Because of the Cold War, most Western nations and the United Nations regarded the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s. Later, especially after the termination of the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, most nations switched diplomatic recognition to the PRC (see United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758).
Up until the 1970s, the government was regarded by Western critics as undemocratic for upholding martial law, for severely repressing any political opposition and for controlling media. The KMT did not allow the creation of new parties and those that existed did not seriously compete with the KMT. Thus, competitive democratic elections did not exist.[84][85][86][87][88] From the late 1970s to the 1990s, however, Taiwan went through reforms and social changes that transformed it from an authoritarian state to a democracy. In 1979, a pro-democracy protest known as the Kaohsiung Incident took place in Kaohsiung to celebrate Human Rights Day. Although the protest was rapidly crushed by the authorities, it is today considered as the main event that united Taiwan's opposition.[89]
Democratization
Main articles: Democratic reforms of Taiwan and Elections in Taiwan
Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's son and successor as the president, began to liberalize the political system in the mid-1980s. In 1984, the younger Chiang selected Lee Teng-hui, a Taiwanese-born, US-educated technocrat, to be his vice-president. In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was formed and inaugurated as the first opposition party in the ROC to counter the KMT. A year later, Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law on the main island of Taiwan (martial law was lifted on Penghu in 1979, Matsu island in 1992 and Kinmen island in 1993). With the advent of democratization, the issue of the political status of Taiwan gradually resurfaced as a controversial issue where, previously, the discussion of anything other than unification under the ROC was taboo.
After the death of Chiang Ching-kuo in January 1988, Lee Teng-hui succeeded him as president. Lee continued to democratize the government and decrease the concentration of government authority in the hands of mainland Chinese. Under Lee, Taiwan underwent a process of localization in which Taiwanese culture and history were promoted over a pan-China viewpoint in contrast to earlier KMT policies which had promoted a Chinese identity. Lee's reforms included printing banknotes from the Central Bank rather than the Provincial Bank of Taiwan, and streamlining the Taiwan Provincial Government with most of its functions transferred to the Executive Yuan. Under Lee, the original members of the Legislative Yuan and National Assembly(a former supreme legislative body defunct in 2005）,[90] elected in 1947 to represent mainland Chinese constituencies and having held the seats without re-election for more than four decades, were forced to resign in 1991. The previously nominal representation in the Legislative Yuan was brought to an end, reflecting the reality that the ROC had no jurisdiction over mainland China, and vice versa. Restrictions on the use of Taiwanese Hokkien in the broadcast media and in schools were also lifted.[citation needed]
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Taiwan's special envoy to the APEC summit, Lien Chan, November 2011
Democratic reforms continued in the 1990s, with Lee Teng-hui re-elected in 1996, in the first direct presidential election in the history of the ROC.[91] During the later years of Lee's administration, he was involved in corruption controversies relating to government release of land and weapons purchase, although no legal proceedings commenced. In 1997,"To meet the requisites of the nation prior to national unification",[92] the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China was passed and then the former "constitution of five powers" turns to be more tripartite. In 2000, Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party was elected as the first non-Kuomintang (KMT) President and was re-elected to serve his second and last term since 2004. Polarized politics has emerged in Taiwan with the formation of the Pan-Blue Coalition of parties led by the KMT, favouring eventual Chinese reunification, and the Pan-Green Coalition of parties led by the DPP, favouring an eventual and official declaration of Taiwanese independence.[93][clarification needed] In early 2006, President Chen Shui-bian remarked: “The National Unification Council will cease to function. No budget will be ear-marked for it and its personnel must return to their original posts...The National Unification Guidelines will cease to apply."[94]
The ruling DPP has traditionally leaned in favour of Taiwan independence and rejects the so-called "One-China policy".
On 30 September 2007, the ruling DPP approved a resolution asserting a separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country". It also called for general use of "Taiwan" as the country's name, without abolishing its formal name, the Republic of China.[95] The Chen administration also pushed for referendums on national defence and UN entry in the 2004 and 2008 elections, which failed due to voter turnout below the required legal threshold of 50% of all registered voters.[96] The Chen administration was dogged by public concerns over reduced economic growth, legislative gridlock due to a pan-blue, opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan and corruption involving the First Family as well as government officials.[97][98]
The KMT increased its majority in the Legislative Yuan in the January 2008 legislative elections, while its nominee Ma Ying-jeou went on to win the presidency in March of the same year, campaigning on a platform of increased economic growth and better ties with the PRC under a policy of "mutual nondenial".[96] Ma took office on 20 May 2008, the same day that President Chen Shui-bian stepped down and was notified by prosecutors of possible corruption charges. Part of the rationale for campaigning for closer economic ties with the PRC stems from the strong economic growth China attained since joining the World Trade Organization. However, some analysts say that despite the election of Ma Ying-jeou, the diplomatic and military tensions with the PRC have not been reduced.[99]
An external view of Galway Cathedral - the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas - in County Galway, Ireland
Je suis passé dans la Cupola pile au bon moment pour cette photo prise depuis le segment russe. D’ailleurs c’est une vue que vous ne reverrez plus maintenant que le module DC1 est parti ! Mais n’ayez crainte, le hublot du laboratoire MLM est encore plus grand et transparent 👌
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I happened to be in the Cupola at the right time for a shot from the Russian segment, and it’s a view we will never have again since DC1 is now gone! Don’t fear, MLM windows are even better and bigger 😉
Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet
439C5814
"The Nassauer Haus or Schlüsselfeldersche Stiftungshaus in Nuremberg is a medieval residential tower made of so-called red castle sandstone. Although originally built in the Romanesque style, the house still features Gothic style elements after a few renovations. It is the last remaining residential tower in Nuremberg.
The tower is located in Lorenz's old town, opposite the Lorenz Church, at Karolinenstrasse 2.
The term “Nassauer Haus” is the name for the corner house, which has only been in use since the 19th century and is based on an erroneous reference to the German King Adolf of Nassau († 1298). Until then, the building was known as the Schluesselfelder Foundation House (since the early 18th century). However, descendants of the king from the Count's House of Nassau owned property further north of the Lorenzkirche in the 15th century.
The construction method for fortified tower houses or residential towers came in the 13th century from northern Italian cities to the German imperial cities that traded with them. “Family towers” were widespread in the (rather weakly fortified) trading centers to protect trading goods from raids, and also as status symbols for noble families who had moved to the cities. Several Italian-style family towers have been preserved in Regensburg. Around 1430 there were around 65 in Nuremberg, of which the Nassau House is the only one preserved.
The cellar (with an irregular ribbed vault) and the two lower floors date back to the 13th century. Around the 16th century, the vault of the cellar and the ground floor were raised. The hall-like cellar is now used as a tavern. The two upper floors, which are clearly distinguished from the small-scale structured masonry of the lower floors by their regular ashlar masonry in a reddish tint, belong to the 15th century. The original tower probably rose free-standing above the low wooden houses in the area and could also have had a wooden or half-timbered tower in the style of the Amorbach Templar house. At least the penultimate floor can be attributed to a renovation around 1422 by the then owner Jobst Haug. The top floor with its coat of arms frieze and the three pointed-helmet corner towers was given the existing shape around 1433 by Ulrich Ortlieb, who is also responsible for the choir. A pyramid-shaped hipped roof is placed on the tower.
The residential tower probably only became a “defensive tower” for romantic observers of the 19th century, who may have seen it as a unified structure, although the decorative crenellated wreath, the coat of arms frieze and the royal attribution may have contributed to this assessment. The most important external change is the installation of the arched openings on the ground floor in 1836; one of them was enlarged into a door around 1900. In the early days, the stone floors of the tower probably only had slit windows or embrasures and a high entrance.
Nuremberg (/ˈnjʊərəmbɜːrɡ/ NURE-əm-burg; German: Nürnberg [ˈnʏʁnbɛʁk]; in the local East Franconian dialect: Nämberch [ˈnɛmbɛrç]) is the largest city in Franconia, the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria, and its 545,000 inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany.
Nuremberg sits on the Pegnitz, which carries the name Regnitz from its confluence with the Rednitz in Fürth onwards (Pegnitz→ Regnitz→ Main→ Rhine→ North Sea), and on the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, that connects the North Sea to the Black Sea. Lying in the Bavarian administrative region of Middle Franconia, it is the largest city and unofficial capital of the entire cultural region of Franconia. The city is surrounded on three sides by the Reichswald, a large forest, and in the north lies Knoblauchsland (garlic land), an extensive vegetable growing area and cultural landscape.
The city forms a continuous conurbation with the neighbouring cities of Fürth, Erlangen and Schwabach, which is the heart of an urban area region with around 1.4 million inhabitants, while the larger Nuremberg Metropolitan Region has a population of approximately 3.6 million. It is the largest city in the East Franconian dialect area (colloquially: "Franconian"; German: Fränkisch).
Nuremberg and Fürth were once connected by the Bavarian Ludwig Railway, the first steam-hauled and overall second railway opened in Germany (1835). Today, the U1 of the Nuremberg Subway, which is the first German subway with driverless, automatically moving railcars, runs along this route. Nuremberg Airport (Flughafen Nürnberg "Albrecht Dürer") is the second-busiest airport in Bavaria after Munich Airport, and the tenth-busiest airport of the country.
Institutions of higher education in Nuremberg include the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg), Germany's 11th-largest university, with campuses in Erlangen and Nuremberg and a university hospital in Erlangen (Universitätsklinikum Erlangen), Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm and Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg. The Nuremberg exhibition centre (Messe Nürnberg) is one of the biggest convention center companies in Germany and operates worldwide.
Nuremberg Castle and the city's walls, with their many towers, are among the most impressive in Europe. Staatstheater Nürnberg is one of the five Bavarian state theatres, showing operas, operettas, musicals, and ballets (main venue: Nuremberg Opera House), plays (main venue: Schauspielhaus Nürnberg), as well as concerts (main venue: Meistersingerhalle). Its orchestra, the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, is Bavaria's second-largest opera orchestra after the Bavarian State Opera's Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich. Nuremberg is the birthplace of Albrecht Dürer and Johann Pachelbel. 1. FC Nürnberg is the most famous football club of the city and one of the most successful football clubs in Germany. Nuremberg was one of the host cities of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Franconia (German: Franken, pronounced [ˈfʁaŋkŋ̍]; Franconian: Franggn [ˈfrɑŋɡŋ̍]; Bavarian: Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: Fränkisch).
Franconia is made up of the three Regierungsbezirke of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia in Bavaria, the adjacent, Franconian-speaking, South Thuringia, south of the Thuringian Forest—which constitutes the language boundary between Franconian and Thuringian— and the eastern parts of Heilbronn-Franconia in Baden-Württemberg.
Those parts of the Vogtland lying in Saxony (largest city: Plauen) are sometimes regarded as Franconian as well, because the Vogtlandian dialects are mostly East Franconian. The inhabitants of Saxon Vogtland, however, mostly do not consider themselves as Franconian. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the Hessian-speaking parts of Lower Franconia west of the Spessart (largest city: Aschaffenburg) do consider themselves as Franconian, although not speaking the dialect. Heilbronn-Franconia's largest city of Heilbronn and its surrounding areas are South Franconian-speaking, and therefore only sometimes regarded as Franconian. In Hesse, the east of the Fulda District is Franconian-speaking, and parts of the Oden Forest District are sometimes regarded as Franconian for historical reasons, but a Franconian identity did not develop there.
Franconia's largest city and unofficial capital is Nuremberg, which is contiguous with Erlangen and Fürth, with which it forms the Franconian conurbation with around 1.3 million inhabitants. Other important Franconian cities are Würzburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Ansbach and Coburg in Bavaria, Suhl and Meiningen in Thuringia, and Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg.
The German word Franken—Franconians—also refers to the ethnic group, which is mainly to be found in this region. They are to be distinguished from the Germanic people of the Franks, and historically formed their easternmost settlement area. The origins of Franconia lie in the settlement of the Franks from the 6th century in the area probably populated until then mainly by the Elbe Germanic people in the Main river area, known from the 9th century as East Francia (Francia Orientalis). In the Middle Ages the region formed much of the eastern part of the Duchy of Franconia and, from 1500, the Franconian Circle. The restructuring of the south German states by Napoleon, after the demise of the Holy Roman Empire, saw most of Franconia awarded to Bavaria." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
Fraserburgh passenger railway station a few months before closure.
NBL type 2, D6145 has recently arrived with the train from Aberdeen.
(Picture taken by the late Robin Barbour)
At the other end of this train is another NBL type 2, D6142. By co-incidence a few months later from when this photograph was taken, on the 15th October 1965 these 2 locos hauled the very last Royal train from Ballater to Aberdeen.
#02 by Aviary ppc
crop, orientaion, sharpness
ISO 320 -
ISO 100, 125, 160 200 250 ...
very useful
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My
hints
for details
Max ISO 500
●
edit
unsharp masking
usm 1.7 17
my SX60 macros
www.flickr.com/photos/eagle1effi/sets/72157650896059991/s...
NEW
Now listed
in flickr´s
Camera finder
www.flickr.com/cameras/canon/powershot_sx60_hs/
Exif data
Camera
Canon PowerShot SX60 HS
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Easy Mode Super Vivid
early morning shot:
Measured EV + 8.53
Aspect Ratio 16:9
Aperture f/5.0
Focal Length 19.5 mm
(19,5 x 5,6 crop factor) = 110 mm
ISO Speed 320
Flash On, Red-eye reduction
Canon Flash Mode External flash
Canon Speedlite 430EX II - highly recommended
Focus Distance Upper 0.26 m
the external flash overrides the metering by infrared rays and makes an excellent job, even in full darkness!
Continuous Drive Single
The Sony ILCE7R A7r rocks! New Sony A7R Test Photos (with Sony HVL-F60M External Flash) of Tall, Thin, Fit Bikini Swimsuit Model Goddess! Long legs and then some! Shot with the Carl Zeiss Sony Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA Lens finished in Lightroom 5.3 ! Was using the B W 49mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer MRC Filter on partly cloudy day with some intermittent sun, but mostly cloudy. Check out the low glare off the rocks and water and dramatic, polarizwer-enhanced sky! Super sharp images and crystal-clear pictures!
Was testing the Sony HVL-F60M External Flash on the Sony A7r. You can see it going off in some of the photos (check the exif if in doubt)--worked great, but it overheated a bit sooner than my Nikon flash on the D800E. But it's all good!
Here's some epic goddess video shot at the same time as stills using my 45surfer method/philosophy:
Join Johnny Ranger McCoy's youtube channel for goddess video shot @ the same time as the stills with the Sony A7 !
Beautiful swimsuit bikini model goddess on a beautiful December Malibu afternoon! Shot it yesterday. :) Love, love, love the new Sony A7 R!
Was a fun test shoot. Many, many more to come!
All the best on your Epic Hero's Journey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
Join my facebook!
www.facebook.com/45surfHerosJourneyMythology
Follow me on facebook www.facebook.com/elliot.mcgucken !
Modeling the black & gold "Gold 45 Revolver" Gold'N'Virtue swimsuits with the main equation to Moving Dimensions Theory on the swimsuits: dx4/dt=ic. Yes I have a Ph.D. in physics! :) You can read more about my research and Hero's Journey Physics here:
herosjourneyphysics.wordpress.com/ MDT PROOF#2: Einstein (1912 Man. on Rel.) and Minkowski wrote x4=ict. Ergo dx4/dt=ic--the foundational equation of all time and motion which is on all the shirts and swimsuits. Every photon that hits my Nikon D800e's sensor does it by surfing the fourth expanding dimension, which is moving at c relative to the three spatial dimensions, or dx4/dt=ic!
May the Hero's Journey Mythology Goddess inspire you (as they have inspired me!) along your own artistic journey! Love, love, love the 35mm Carl Zeiss Lens on the new Sony A7R! :)
All the Best on Your Epic Hero's Journey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
++++++++ FROM WIKIPEDIA ++++++++++
Kalimpong is a hill station in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of 1,250 metres (4,101 ft).[2] The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district.[3] The Indian Army's 27 Mountain Division is located on the outskirts of the town.[4]
Kalimpong is known for its educational institutions, many of which were established during the British colonial period.[5] It used to be a gateway in the trade between Tibet and India before China's annexation of Tibet and the Sino-Indian War. Kalimpong and neighbouring Darjeeling were major centres calling for a separate Gorkhaland state in the 1980s, and more recently in 2010.
The municipality sits on a ridge overlooking the Teesta River and is a tourist destination owing to its temperate climate, magnificent Himalayan beauty and proximity to popular tourist locations in the region. Horticulture is important to Kalimpong: It has a flower market notable for its wide array of orchids; nurseries, which export Himalayan grown flower bulbs, tubers and rhizomes, contribute to the economy of Kalimpong.[2] Home to Nepalisindigenous Lepchas, other ethnic groups and non-native immigrants from other parts of India, the town is a religious centre of Buddhism. The Tibetan Buddhist monastery Zang Dhok Palri Phodang holds a number of rare Tibetan Buddhist scriptures.[6]
The Kalimpong Science Centre, established under the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in 2008 is a recent addition to its many tourist attractions. The Science Centre, which provides for scientific awareness among the students of the town and the locals sits atop the Deolo Hill.
Contents
1 Name origin
2 History
3 Geography
4 Economy
5 Transport
6 Demographics
7 Civic administration
8 People, culture, and cuisine
9 Media
10 Education
11 Flora and fauna
12 Notes
13 References
14 External links
Name origin
The precise etymology of the name Kalimpong remains unclear. There are many theories on the origin of the name. One widely accepted theory claims that the name "Kalimpong" means "Assembly (or Stockade) of the King's Ministers" in Tibetan, derived from kalon ("King's ministers") and pong ("stockade"). It may be derived from the translation "ridge where we play" from Lepcha, as it was known to be the place for traditional tribal gatherings for summer sporting events. People from the hills call the area Kalempung ("the black spurs").[7]
According to K.P. Tamsang, author of The Untold and Unknown Reality about the Lepchas, the term Kalimpong is deduced from the name Kalenpung, which in Lepcha means "Hillock of Assemblage";[8] in time, the name was distorted to Kalebung, and later further contorted to Kalimpong. Another possible derivation points to Kaulim, a fibrous plant found in abundance in the region.[9]
History
Katherine Graham Memorial Chapel, Dr. Graham's Homes
The Clock Tower of Kalimpong.
Until the mid-19th century, the area around Kalimpong was ruled in succession by the Sikkimese and Bhutanese kingdoms.[8][10] Under Sikkimese rule, the area was known as Dalingkot.[11] In 1706, the king of Bhutan won this territory from the Sikkimese monarch and renamed it Kalimpong.[11] Overlooking the Teesta Valley, Kalimpong is believed to have once been the forward position of the Bhutanese in the 18th century. The area was sparsely populated by the indigenous Lepcha community and migrant Bhutia and Limbu tribes.
After the Anglo-Bhutan War in 1864, the Treaty of Sinchula (1865) was signed, in which Bhutanese held territory east of the Teesta River was ceded to the British East India Company.[8] At that time, Kalimpong was a hamlet, with only two or three families known to reside there.[12] The first recorded mention of the town was a fleeting reference made that year by Ashley Eden, a government official with the Bengal Civil Service. Kalimpong was added to district of Darjeeling in 1866. In 1866–1867 an Anglo-Bhutanese commission demarcated the common boundaries between the two, thereby giving shape to the Kalimpong subdivision and the Darjeeling district.[13]
After the war, the region became a subdivision of the Western Duars district, and the following year it was merged with the district of Darjeeling.[8] The temperate climate prompted the British to develop the town as an alternative hill station to Darjeeling, to escape the scorching summer heat in the plains. Kalimpong's proximity to the Nathu La and Jelep La passes (La means "pass"), offshoots of the ancient Silk Road, was an added advantage. It soon became an important trading outpost in the trade of furs, wools and food grains between India and Tibet.[14] The increase in commerce attracted large numbers of Nepali's from the neighbouring Nepal and the lower regions of Sikkim, the areas where, Nepali's were residing since the Gorkha invasion of Sikkim in 1790. The movement of people into the area, transformed Kalimpong from a small hamlet with a few houses, to a thriving town with increased economic prosperity. Britain assigned a plot within Kalimpong to the influential Bhutanese Dorji family, through which trade and relations with Bhutan flowed. This later became Bhutan House, a Bhutanese administrative and cultural centre.[15][16][17]
The arrival of Scottish missionaries saw the construction of schools and welfare centres for the British.[12] Rev. W. Macfarlane in the early 1870s established the first schools in the area.[12] The Scottish University Mission Institution was opened in 1886, followed by the Kalimpong Girls High School. In 1900, Reverend J.A. Graham founded the Dr. Graham's Homes for destitute Anglo-Indian students.[12] The young missionary (and aspiring writer and poet) Aeneas Francon Williams, aged 24, arrived in Kalimpong in 1910 to take up the post of assistant schoolmaster at Dr. Graham's Homes,[18] where he later became Bursar and remained working at the school for the next fourteen years.[19] From 1907 onwards, most schools in Kalimpong had started offering education to Indian students. By 1911, the population comprised many ethnic groups, including Nepalis, Lepchas, Tibetans, Muslims, the Anglo-Indian communities. Hence by 1911, the population had swollen to 7,880.[12]
Following Indian independence in 1947, Kalimpong became part of the state of West Bengal, after Bengal was partitioned between India and East Pakistan. With China's annexation of Tibet in 1959, many Buddhist monks fled Tibet and established monasteries in Kalimpong. These monks brought many rare Buddhist scriptures with them. In 1962, the permanent closure of the Jelep Pass after the Sino-Indian War disrupted trade between Tibet and India, and led to a slowdown in Kalimpong's economy. In 1976, the visiting Dalai Lama consecrated the Zang Dhok Palri Phodang monastery, which houses many of the scriptures.[12]
Most large houses in Kalimpong were built during the British era. In the background is Mount Kangchenjunga.
Morgan House is a classic example of colonial architecture in Kalimpong.
Between 1986 and 1988, the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland and Kamtapur based on ethnic lines grew strong. Riots between the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and the West Bengal government reached a stand-off after a forty-day strike. The town was virtually under siege, and the state government called in the Indian army to maintain law and order. This led to the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, a body that was given semi-autonomous powers to govern the Darjeeling district, except the area under the Siliguri subdivision. Since 2007, the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state has been revived by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and its supporters in the Darjeeling hills.[20] The Kamtapur People's Party and its supporters' movement for a separate Kamtapur state covering North Bengal have gained momentum.[21]
Geography
A view from the Deolo Resort, atop Deolo Hill, Kalimpong's highest point
The town centre is on a ridge connecting two hills, Deolo Hill and Durpin Hill,[12] at an elevation of 1,247 m (4,091 ft). Deolo, the highest point in Kalimpong, has an altitude of 1,704 m (5,591 ft) and Durpin Hill is at an elevation of 1,372 m (4,501 ft). The River Teesta flows in the valley below and separates Kalimpong from the state of Sikkim. The soil in the Kalimpong area is typically reddish in color. Occasional dark soils are found due to extensive existence of phyllite and schists.[22] The Shiwalik Hills, like most of the Himalayan foothills, have steep slopes and soft, loose topsoil, leading to frequent landslides in the monsoon season.[22] The hills are nestled within higher peaks and the snow-clad Himalayan ranges tower over the town in the distance. Mount Kanchenjunga at 8,586 m (28,169 ft) the world's third tallest peak,[23] is clearly visible from Kalimpong.[2]
View of the Himalaya range
Kalimpong has five distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter and the monsoons. The annual temperature ranges from a high of 30 °C (86 °F) to a low of 9 °C (48 °F). Summers are mild, with an average maximum temperature of 30 °C (86 °F) in August.[24] Summers are followed by the monsoon rains which lash the town between June and September. The monsoons are severe, often causing landslides which sequester the town from the rest of India. Winter lasts from December to February, with the maximum temperature being around 15 °C (59 °F). During the monsoon and winter seasons, Kalimpong is often enveloped by fog.[25]
Economy
Oranges grown in the hillsides are exported to many parts of India.
Tourism is the most significant contributor to Kalimpong's economy.[26] The summer and spring seasons are the most popular with tourists, keeping many of town's residents employed directly and indirectly. The town—earlier an important trade post between India and Tibet—hopes to boost its economy after the reopening of the Nathu La (pass) in April 2006.[27] Though this has resumed Indo–China border trades,[28] it is expected that Kalimpong will have a better chance of revival as a hub for Indo–China trades if the demand of local leaders for reopening of Jelep La pass also is met.[28]
Kalimpong is a major ginger growing area of India. Kalimpong and the state of Sikkim together contribute 15 percent of ginger produced in India.[29] The Darjeeling Himalayan hill region is internationally famous for its tea industry.[30] However, most of the tea gardens are on the western side of Teesta river (towards the town of Darjeeling) and so tea gardens near Kalimpong contribute only 4 percent of total tea production of the region. In Kalimpong division, 90 percent of land is cultivable but only 10 percent is used for tea production.[31] Kalimpong is well known for its flower export industry—especially for its wide array of indigenous orchids and gladioli.[32]
A significant contributor to the town's economy is education sector.[26] The schools of Kalimpong, besides imparting education to the locals, attract a significant number of students from the plains, the neighbouring state of Sikkim and countries such as Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand.[26]
Many establishments cater to the Indian army bases near the town, providing it with essential supplies. Small contributions to the economy come by the way of the sale of traditional arts and crafts of Sikkim and Tibet. Government efforts related to sericulture, seismology, and fisheries provide a steady source of employment to many of its residents.
Kalimpong is well renowned for its cheese, noodles and lollipops. Kalimpong exports a wide range of traditional handicrafts, wood-carvings, embroidered items, bags and purses with tapestry work, copper ware, scrolls, Tibetan jewellery and artifacts.[32][33]
Transport
NH31A winds along the banks of the river Teesta near Kalimpong.
Kalimpong is located off the National Highway 31A (NH31A), which links Sevok to Gangtok. The NH31A is an offshoot of the NH 31, which connects Sevok to Siliguri.[34] These two National Highways together, via Sevok, links Kalimpong to the plains.[35] Regular bus services and hired vehicles connect Kalimpong with Siliguri and the neighbouring towns of Kurseong, Darjeeling and Gangtok. Four wheel drives are popular means of transport, as they can easily navigate the steep slopes in the region. However, road communication often get disrupted in the monsoons due to landslides. In the town, people usually travel by foot. Residents also use bicycle, two-wheelers and hired taxis for short distances.
The nearest airport is in Bagdogra near Siliguri, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Kalimpong. Air India, Jet Airways and Druk Air (Bhutan) are the four major carriers that connect the airport to Delhi, Kolkata, Paro (Bhutan), Guwahati and Bangkok (Thailand). The closest major railway station is New Jalpaiguri, on the outskirts of Siliguri,[2] which is connected with almost all major cities of the country.
Demographics
Population growth
At the 2011 India census,[37] Kalimpong town area had a population of 42,988, of which 52% were male and 48% female.[37]
At the 2001 census,[38] Kalimpong had an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy was 84%, and female literacy was 73%. In Kalimpong, 8% of the population was under 6 years of age. The Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes population for Kalimpong was 5,100 and 5,121 respectively.[39]
Civic administration
Kalimpong is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The semi-autonomous Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), set up by the West Bengal government in 1988, administers this district as well as the Darjeeling Sadar and Kurseong subdivisions.[40] Kalimpong elects eight councillors to the DGHC, who manages the departments of Public Health, Education, Public Works, Transport, Tourism, Market, Small scale industries, Agriculture, Agricultural waterways, Forest (except reserved forests), Water, Livestock, Vocational Training and Sports and Youth services.[41] The district administration of Darjeeling, which is the authoritative body for the departments of election, panchayat, law and order, revenue, etc., also acts as an interface of communication between the Council and the State Government.[41] The rural area in the district covers three community development blocks Kalimpong I, Kalimpong II and Gorubathan consisting of forty-two gram panchayats.[42] A Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) presides over the Kalimpong subdivision. Kalimpong has a police station that serves the municipality and 18 gram panchayats of Kalimpong–I CD block.[43]
The Kalimpong municipality, which was established in 1945,[39] is in charge of the infrastructure of the town such as potable water and roads. The municipal area is divided into twenty-three wards.[44] Kalimpong municipality is constructing additional water storage tanks to meet the requirement of potable water, and it needs an increase of water supply from the 'Neora Khola Water Supply Scheme' for this purpose.[45] Often, landslides occurring in monsoon season cause havoc to the roads in and around Kalimpong.[46] The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Corporation Limited (WBSEDCL) provides electricity here.[47] Renewable Energy Development Agency of the state has plans to promote usage of solar street lights in Kalimpong and proposed an energy park here to sell renewable energy gadgets.[48] The Public Works Department is responsible for the road connecting the town to the National Highway–NH-31A.[49] The Kalimpong municipality has a total of 10 health care units, with a total of 433 bed capacity.[50]
The Kalimpong assembly constituency, which is an assembly segment of the Darjeeling parliamentary constituency, elects one member of the Vidhan Sabha of West Bengal.[51]
People, culture, and cuisine
The Zang Dhok Palri Phodang monastery atop Durpin Hill
The original settlers of Kalimpong are the Lepchas, although the majority of the populace are ethnic Nepali, having migrated from Nepal to Kalimpong in search of jobs while it was under British rule.[52]
Indigenous ethnic groups include the Newars, Bhutia, Sherpas, Limbus, Rais, Magars,[53] Chettris, Bahuns, Thakuris, Gurungs, Tamangs, Yolmos, Bhujels, Sunuwars, Sarkis, Damais and the Kamis.[54] The other non-native communities as old as the Nepalese are the Bengalis, Muslims, Anglo-Indians, Chinese, Biharis and Tibetans who escaped to Kalimpong after fleeing the Communist Chinese invasion of Tibet. Kalimpong is home to Trinley Thaye Dorje—one of the 17th Karmapa incarnations.[55] Kalimpong is the closest Indian town to Bhutan's western border, and has a small number of Bhutanese nationals residing here. Hinduism is the largest religion followed by Nijananda Sampradaya, Buddhism and Christianity.[53] Islam has a minuscule presence in this region, The Oldest settlers include people residing since the mid of 19th Century and also mostly Tibetan Muslims who fled in 1959 after Chinese invasion of Tibet.[56] The Buddhist monastery Zang Dhok Palri Phodang holds a number of rare Tibetan Buddhist scriptures.[6] There is a Mosque, Kalimpong Anjuman Islamia Established in 1887 in the bazaar area of Kalimpong.[57]
Popular Hindu festivals include Dashain, Tihar, Cultural Programme and the Tibetan festival of Losar. Languages spoken in Kalimpong include Nepali, which is the predominant language; Lepcha, Limbu, Tamang, Kirat, Hindi, English and Bengali.[2] Though there is a growing interest in cricket as a winter sport in Darjeeling Hills, football still remains the most popular sport in Kalimpong.[58] Every year since 1947, the Independence Shield Football Tournament is organized here as part of the two-day-long Independence Day celebrations.[59] Former captain of India national football team, Pem Dorjee hails from Kalimpong.[60]
A popular snack in Kalimpong is the momo, steamed dumplings made of pork, beef or vegetable cooked in a wrapping of flour and served with watery soup. Wai-Wai is a packaged Nepalese snack made of noodles which are eaten either dry or in soup form. Churpee, a kind of hard cheese made from yak's or chauri's (a hybrid of yak and cattle) milk, is sometimes chewed.[61] A form of noodle called Thukpa, served in soup form is popular in Kalimpong.[62] There are a large number of restaurants which offer a wide variety of cuisines, ranging from Indian to continental, to cater to the tourists. Tea is the most popular beverage in Kalimpong, procured from the famed Darjeeling tea gardens. Kalimpong has a golf course besides Kalimpong Circuit House.[2][63]
The cultural centres in Kalimpong include, the Lepcha Museum and the Zang Dhok Palri Phodang monastery. The Lepcha Museum, a kilometre away from the town centre, showcases the culture of the Lepcha community, the indigenous peoples of Sikkim. The Zang Dhok Palri Phodong monastery has 108 volumes of the Kangyur, and belongs to the Gelug of Buddhism.
Media
Kalimpong has access to most of the television channels aired in the rest of India. Cable Television still provides service to many homes in the town and it's outskirts, while DTH connections are now practically mandatory throughout the country. Besides mainstream Indian channels, many Nepali-language channels such as Dainandini DD, Kalimpong Television KTv, Haal Khabar (an association of the Hill Channel Network), Jan Sarokar, Himalayan People's Channel (HPC), and Kalimpong Times are broadcast in Kalimpong. These channels, which mainly broadcast locally relevant news, are produced by regional media houses and news networks, and are broadcast through the local cable network, which is now slowly becoming defunct due to the Indian government's ruling on mandatory digitization of TV channels. The movie production houses like JBU films produces the movies on the nepali and other languages.[64]
Newspapers in Kalimpong include English language dailies The Statesman and The Telegraph, which are printed in Siliguri,[65][66] and The Economic Times and the Hindustan Times, which are printed in Kolkata.
Among other languages, Nepali, Hindi and Bengali are prominent vernacular languages used in this region.[25] Newspapers in all these four languages are available in the Darjeeling Hills region. Of the largely circulated Nepali newspapers Himalay Darpan, Swarnabhumi and some Sikkim-based Nepali newspapers like Hamro Prajashakti and Samay Dainik are read most.[67] The Tibet Mirror was the first Tibetan-language newspaper published in Kalimpong in 1925.[68] while Himalayan Times was the first English to have come out from Kalimpong in the year 1947, it was closed down in the year 1962 after the Chinese aggression but was started once again and is now in regular print. Internet service and Internet cafés are well established; these are mostly served through broadband, data card of different mobile services, WLL, dialup lines,[69][70] Kalimpong News, Kalimpong Online News, Kalimpong Times and KTV are the main online news sites that collect and present local and North Bengal & Sikkim news from its own agencies like KalimNews and other newspapers. Besides this there are others like kalimpong.info, kalimpongexpress.blogspot.com and several others. All India Radio and several other National and Private Channels including FM Radio are received in Kalimpong.
The area is serviced by major telecommunication companies of India with most types of cellular services in most areas.[71]
Education
There are fifteen major schools in Kalimpong, the most notable ones being Scottish Universities Mission Institution, Dr. Graham's Homes, St Joseph's Convent, St. Augustine's School, Rockvale Academy, Saptashri Gyanpeeth, Springdale Academy, St. Philomenas School, Kalimpong Girls' High School, Kumdini Homes, Chandramaya High School, Lolay Sampu High School and Gandhi Ashram School. The Scottish Universities Mission Institution was the first school that was opened in 1886. The schools offer education up to high secondary standard, following which students may choose to join a Junior College or carry on with additional two years of schooling.
Kalimpong College, Cluny Women's College and Rockvale Management College are the main colleges in the town. Former two are affiliated to the North Bengal University and the latter affiliated to West Bengal University of Technology and apart from these, Good Shepherd IHM (Hotel management Institution) offers courses on hospitality sectors. Most students however, choose to further their studies in Siliguri, Kolkata, and other colleges in the Indian metropolis. The Tharpa Choling Monastery, at Tirpai Hill near Kalimpong, is managed by Yellow Hat sect and has a library of Tibetan manuscripts and thankas.
Flora and fauna
Heliconia
The area around Kalimpong lies in the Eastern Himalayas, which is classified as an ecological hotspot, one of only three among the ecoregions of India. Neora Valley National Park lies within the Kalimpong subdivision and is home to tigers.[72] Acacia is the most commonly found species at lower altitudes, while cinnamon, ficus, bamboo and cardamom, are found in the hillsides around Kalimpong. The forests found at higher altitudes are made up of pine trees and other evergreen alpine vegetation. Seven species of rhododendrons are found in the region east of Kalimpong. The temperate deciduous forests include oak, birch, maple and alder.[73] Three hundred species of orchid are found around Kalimpong.[74]
The Red panda, Clouded leopard, Siberian weasel, Asiatic black bear,[75] barking deer,[76] Himalayan tahr, goral, gaur[76] and pangolin are some of the fauna found near Kalimpong. Avifauna of the region include the pheasants, cuckoos, minivets, flycatchers, bulbuls, orioles, owls, partridges, sunbirds, warblers, swallows, swifts and woodpeckers.[77]
Kalimpong is a major production centre of gladioli in India,[78] and orchids, which are exported to many parts of the world. The Rishi Bankim Chandra Park is an ecological museums within Kalimpong.[79] Citrus Dieback Research Station at Kalimpong works towards control of diseases, plant protection and production of disease free orange seedlings.[80]
Kalimpong is also famous for their rich practice of cactus cultivation. Its nurseries attract people from far and wide for the absolutely stunning collection of cacti they cultivate. The strains of cacti, though not indigenous to the locale, have been carefully cultivated over the years, and now the town boasts one of the most fascinating and exhaustive collections of the Cactaceae family. The plants have adapted well to the altitude and environment, and now prove to be one of the chief draws of tourism to the township.[81][82]