A set of philatelic items including a gold portrait of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, 13 silver stamps and 38 hand-made, silk commemorative envelopes that feature the former leader's selected calligraphic poems have been issued in Beijing and Ruijin, east China's Jiangxi Province.

The first of their kind in China, the collection is released to mark the 60th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-45) and the 70th anniversary of the successful arrival of the first groups of the Red Army, led by the Communist Party in September 1935, in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. This was the history-making Long March (1934-35), a major strategic movement of the Red Army which succeeded in reaching the revolutionary base area in northern Shaanxi after traversing 11 provinces and covering 25,000 li, or 12,500 kilometers.

The collection is jointly created by the China Society of Mao Zedong Poems Studies, All China Federation of Philatelists and China Post, and issued under the supervision of Mao Anqing and Shao Hua, son and daughter-in-law of Mao.

"Mao Zedong is the founder of New China. But he is also known as a philosopher, poet and calligrapher who cherishes a deep love for Chinese art and culture in all his lifetime," said Mao Xinyu, grandson of Mao, at the issuing ceremony in Beijing, during which one set of stamps and envelops has been given to the China Stamp Museum for its permanent collection.

The set of gold and silver stamps and silk commemorative envelops are packaged in a wooden box along with a block of 10 older paper stamps featuring portraits of Mao which were issued in the 1950s.

The collection is released at home and abroad. And there are only 30,000 sets, according to He Huoren, vice-director of China Society of Mao Zedong Poems Studies.

(China Daily February 2, 2005)