Postage stamps first appeared in China after the Opium War in 1840.

Some Western countries established postal systems in China's trading ports and issued stamps. These stamps were used mainly for business exchanges and were not issued by China's Postal Ministry. Some cannot actually be regarded as Chinese stamps.

The first set of real Chinese stamps came into being in 1878 when the Post Office of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) issued the Dalong or Giant Dragon stamps.

They were printed from copperplate and bore the picture of a huge dragon against a background of clouds and waves.

This set was issued three times - in 1878, 1882 and 1883. The yellow 5-fen stamp with a wide margin, issued in 1883, is the rarest. Only one entire unused sheet exists in China and they are considered a treasure of Chinese philately.

Today, commemorative stamps are quite popular in China.

The first Chinese commemorative stamps were issued in November 1884, celebrating the 60th birthday of Dowager Empress Cixi.

This set is known in China as "Long Life" stamps. It consisted of nine different stamps. Each had a different colour, bearing a picture of a dragon, a carp, a sailing boat, a peony flower, an evergreen tree, a large peach, and the Chinese character shou, meaning longevity. Some of these stamps are hard to find today.

Regular stamps for everyday use did not come out until November 16, 1897. The first set of regular stamps was issued by the Post Office of the Qing Dynasty, or Imperial Chinese Ministry of Posts, and was printed in Japan from stoneplate.

The face value of this set of 12 stamps ranged from half a fen to 5 yuan.

In 1912, Dr Sun Yat-sen became the temporary president of the newly-founded republic.

He showed great concern for stamp design, once writing about this in his diary.

Then, a commemorative sheet and a regular set were designed. The commemorative stamp bore the portrait of Dr Sun Yat-sen, while the regular stamp had a picture of an airship. But the stamps were not issued because Yuan Shikai took over the post of president, insisting that his portrait be printed on the stamps.

After a discussion in parliament, it was decided that two sets of commemorative stamps would be issued, one with Dr Sun Yat-Sen's picture, the other bearing Yuan Shikai. Each set comprised 12 stamps. The two sets shared the same color, design and face values.

The first set of regular stamps by the Ministry of Posts of the Republic of China was finally issued in 1913.

This set of 19 stamps had pictures of a sailing boat, a harvest scene, and a glazed tile memorial archway in Beijing.

The 1920s were the period when China suffered from chaos caused by warlords.

On July 1, 1921, the government controlled by the Northern Warlords issued China's first air mail stamps. The set of five stamps had a picture of a black aeroplane flying over the Great Wall. This is also known by philatelists as the first aviation issue in China.

On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded.

On October 8, New China issued its first set of stamps to celebrate the convening of the first Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

On January 1, 1950, the Ministry of Postal Services was set up in Beijing, opening a new page in China's postal history.

Now, China's stamps are like a mini-encyclopedia, reflecting the nation's politics, economy, culture, science, history and geography.

These special stamps and commemorative stamps are especially appealing to stamp collectors because of their unique designs.

(China Daily August 10, 2004)