[Picture Caption]
The People's Post: Before China had an official postal service or stamps, there were private post offices. Costs could be paid by the month, or be paid by the recipient, without the sender having to pay up front. The style of the envelopes and the method of writing the addresses is quite fascinating. The two characters chiu-li on this one mean that the delivery boy's tip has already been paid.
Guest post: In the early years of the Republic, because of the foreign concessions, each country had the right to conduct direct postal administration in China, using the stamps of that nation. This Russian stamp is marked with the Russian word for China.
(Left) After the end of the War of Resistance, China temporarily took over responsibility for Vietnam from Japan; coastal patrol forces still used Chinese stamps locally.
Commercial port stamp: Also called the "Books and Letters Hall Stamp." Issued by the Industry Department of the city government where there were foreign concessions, these stamps connected the foreign and Chinese postal systems, and could be used for foreigners to send items in China or for Chinese in the concessions to mail things abroad.
Post station stamp: This is an official "post station stamp" from 1888. Like "special delivery" today, at that time there was someone at every Station who would rush the letter out. On this post station stamp you can see that from Chiayi to Taipei took five days, passing through Changhua, Tachia and elsewhere--known as the "post road." (photo courtesy of Chang Min-sheng)
The first stamp: In 1878, China's first ever official government "great dragon stamp" was issued. (photo courtesy of Chang Min-sheng)
Postcards: Early Chinese stamps and postcards were printed abroad, and people using postcards mostly sent them overseas. This scenery postcard has a print of the Tientsin Post Office in the time of the Kuang Hsu emperor. From the fact that there is just a "dragon group stamp" affixed at the top, China had already entered the international postal union; otherwise it would have been necessary to affix two stamps, to pay for the domestic and external fees separately. (Right) The Taipei post office in the Japanese occupation era is today the Po-ai Road office.
Postcards: Early Chinese stamps and postcards were printed abroad, and people using postcards mostly sent them overseas. This scenery postcard has a print of the Tientsin Post Office in the time of the Kuang Hsu emperor. From the fact that there is just a "dragon group stamp" affixed at the top, China had already entered the international postal union; otherwise it would have been necessary to affix two stamps, to pay for the domestic and external fees separately. (Right) The Taipei post office in the Japanese occupation era is today the Po-ai Road office. (Ventine Tsai/stamps provided by Hsieh Tsu-chin/ tr. by Phil Newell)
Guest post: In the early years of the Republic, because of the foreign concessions, each country had the right to conduct direct postal administration in China, using the stamps of that nation. This Russian stamp is marked with the Russian word for China.
（Left） After the end of the War of Resistance, China temporarily took over responsibility for Vietnam from Japan; coastal patrol forces still used Chinese stamps locally.
Commercial port stamp: Also called the "Books and Letters Hall Stamp." Issued by the Industry Department of the city government where there were foreign concessions, these stamps connected the foreign and Chinese postal systems, and could be used for foreigners to send items in China or for Chinese in the concessions to mail things abroad.
Post station stamp: This is an official "post station stamp" from 1888. Like "special delivery" today, at that time there was someone at every Station who would rush the letter out. On this post station stamp you can see that from Chiayi to Taipei took five days, passing through Changhua, Tachia and elsewhere--known as the "post road." （photo courtesy of Chang Min-sheng）
The first stamp: In 1878, China's first ever official government "great dragon stamp" was issued. （photo courtesy of Chang Min-sheng）
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