Cards of Latvia, Alcatraz, Portugal and China

A bit of a jumble of cards for today. First up is Latvia. The card is from the 2006 Mens Ice Hockey World Championship . This hockey series was held in May 2006 in Riga, Latvia. It was the 70th annual event. In the gold medal final game, Sweden won against the Czech Republic. The card shows the hockey arena in Riga, many of the Latvian fans and a goalie from Team Latvia. The card was sent by a Postcrosser named Kristine and she used three stamps on the card. The 2 smaller stamps are from 2007, from a set of 3 showing coat of arms , birds and berries. The larger stamp on the right was issued in 1991 , 1 of a set of 6 showing a Liberty Statue in Riga.
The next card for today is from the U.S. It shows the very famous Alcatraz island. Enough has been written about Alcatraz so I don't feel it necessary to add anything. The card was sent by Sue from Saratoga, Ca. She has a postcard website at http://3349worldpostcards.blogspot.com . Give it a look and see what she has to say. Of course she is also a Postcrosser.
Today's third card is from Portugal. It shows a view of Palmela and its castle. Carlos who sent the card says that Arabs lived there more than 7 centuries ago and that much of their influence remains today. He used 3 stamps, the small one on the left is from a set of 6 featuring masks that were issued in 2006. The stamp in the center was issued in 2007, a joint issue with Morocco. It is from a set of 2 featuring castles and fortifications. The stamp on the right was also issued in 2007. It is from a set of 3 featuring famous persons. In the case of this stamp, it is Jose Valentin Fialho de Almeida, a medical writer. Again, need I say that Carlos is also in Postcrossing.
The last card for this update is from China. I can't really tell much about the front of the card as I don't understand the language. So I'll get right to the stamps on the back. The 2 stamps on the left honor Bo Yibo, a Chinese politician and one of the Eight Immortals of the Communist party of China. They have a first day of issue postmark , Jan 19, 2009. Also of interest is the 2009 Year of the Bull (Ox) stamp. Ke Zhang , who sent the card referred to it as Year of the Bull. Who am I to argue ? The bird stamp, lower right was issued in 2006.