This week, John leads Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #419 with the traveling theme of Landmarks and Monuments.

If you ever have a chance to visit Utah by car, pay attention to the welcome sign at each of its many borders. Unlike most other states in the U.S., the welcome signs in Utah showcases its nearby landmarks.

For example, the welcome sign at the Utah-Idaho border will have a picture of two trains meeting between a giant nail. That’s Golden Spike National Historical site, where in 1869, two trains representing Union Pacific (right) and Central Pacific (left) met at Promontory Point to strike the final nail to connect the two ends of the railroad.

Here’s another variation of the sign I’ve seen throughout my travels. This was along US Highway 40 near the Dinosaur National Monument. Other variations of the same sign I’ve seen include a person skiing down the mountain, the Delicate Arch, Bonneville Salt Flat, and Lake Powell.

During my recent trip to China, I saw quite a few of China’s iconic landmarks in each of the cities I visited. In Shanghai, I saw the iconic skyscapers of Lujiazui that can be seen in every movie that showcased the city like the Pearl of the Orient and Shanghai World Finance Center. I took this photo from across the HuangPu River as I was waiting for the sunset and the lights to come on.

Before that, I was in Suzhou, where I climbed the Tiger Hill to see the Tiger Hill Pagoda aka the Leaning Tower of China, which remains one of the oldest temples in the world. Just think, this pagoda has been leaning for longer than the Tower of Pisa! This landmark is on just about every postcard and fridge magnets at the souvenir shops. Another landmark in Suzhou that’s on all the memobillias is the Gate of the Orient – a building that’s best viewed at night and a building that’s been jokingly deemed “The big Pants.”

I hope you enjoyed my gallery of the various landmarks.