The guests are unveiling the special stamps Year of Jiachen.

On January 5, the first-day-of-issue ceremony of the special stamps Year of Jiachen was held at the China National Arts and Crafts Museum, also known as the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum (hereinafter referred to as CTCM), in Beijing.

Liu Aili, chairman of China Post Group Corporation Limited, Zhou Qingfu, head of the Chinese National Academy of Arts and curator of CTCM, and Ma Fenghui, vice-chairman of the China Artists Association, addressed the ceremony respectively. They jointly unveiled the special stamps Year of Jiachen, together with Dai Yingjun, deputy director-general of the State Post Bureau, Shen Beili, secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF), Shan Jixiang, head of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics, and Gao Min, an Olympic champion. On behalf China Post, Liu Aili presented the serial No. 01 sheet of the special stamps Year of Jiachen to CTCM for collection.

On the same day, China Post also joined hands with Hongkong Post and Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT) to issue a miniature sheet on the same Chinese zodiac theme for the first time. Zheng Guoyu, president of China Post Group, Helen Chan, assistant postmaster general of Hongkong Post, Ip Chong Wa, subdirector of CTT, and Wang Huming, designer of the special stamps and the miniature sheet, jointly unveiled the miniature sheet.

The special stamps Year of Jiachen consists of a set of 2 stamps, respectively named Golden Dragon Flying Forward and Two Dragons Offering Blessings. The designs draw on the cultural genes from the classic images of Chinese dragon, combine the features of Chinese zodiac culture and the artistic characteristics of stamps, and illustrate the dragon images via graphic design, thus showing the cultural heritage in the new era. The pictures are concise and bright, and the colors festive and auspicious, symbolizing happiness and good luck. The first stamp Golden Dragon Flying Forward depicts a golden dragon holding its head high and forging ahead, symbolizing the spirit of vigorous progress and self-improvement. Agile, graceful and majestic, the image and posture of the golden dragon originate from the Nine-Dragon Wall of the Forbidden City. The dragon is surrounded by auspicious flames and clouds on a Chinese red background, presenting a beautiful picture of auspiciousness, harmony, and good fortune. The picture of the second stamp Two Dragons Offering Blessings originates from the traditional Chinese auspicious pattern of dragons encircling jadeware. The round-shaped design and the square-shaped stamp form a layout indicating the ancient Chinese philosophy of the Round Heaven and Square Earth, making the overall design harmonious and solemn. The jadeware object on the center is inscribed with a compound graph of two Chinese characters “祥瑞” (meaning “auspicious signs”), which symbolizes peace, happiness, security and good fortune. The ruyi scepter patterns on the top imply harmony and auspiciousness. The water patterns, cloud patterns and dragon images below demonstrate the grand scene of dragons hovering around, conveying the good wishes of suitable weather, prosperity and peace for the country and people. The main colors of the two stamps are red, gold and black, reflecting a grand, noble, auspicious and happy atmosphere. The two stamp designs, one dynamic and the other static, complement and reinforce each other.

This set of stamps was designed by Wang Huming, and printed by Beijing Stamp Factory via offset intaglio technology. The denomination of the whole set is 2.40 yuan.

At the ceremony, interviews were held on the themes of dragon culture, dragon spirit, and the generation of dragon. The interviewees talked freely about the dragon in their mind.

Celebrities in the sector of culture and art, Chinese table tennis world champions, experts at Hualong One nuclear generator and the deep-sea manned submersible Jiaolong, model workers from China Post, youngsters from Hong Kong, Macao and overseas countries, and people from places whose names contain the Chinese character “龙” (meaning “Chinese dragon”) extended their congratulations on the successful issuance of the stamps Year of Jiachen via short videos.

Starting from January 5, consumers can purchase the set of stamps at designated postal outlets nationwide, online mall of China Philately (https://jiyou.11185.cn), the mobile app of China Post, the WeChat Mall for philatelic products in the official WeChat account of China Post Group and the WeChat mini program of China Post Group.