China Post is to issue a set of five special stamps entitled Museum Construction (Series 2) on May 18, 2024. The designs of the five stamps are respectively named Chinese Archaeological Museum, Liaoning Provincial Museum, Hubei Provincial Museum, Hunan Museum and Sanxingdui Museum. The denomination of the whole set of stamps is six yuan, and the planned circulation is 6.7 million sets.

Each special stamp is composed of a stamp and a tab. The stamps reflect the architectural characteristics of the five museums, with simple and elegant colors and clear and powerful lines highlighting the architectural beauty of stability and tension. The tabs feature important cultural artifacts recommended by each museum, showcasing the splendid traditional culture and long historical inheritance of China. Chinese Archaeological Museum on the first stamp is China’s first specialized national museum in the name of archaeology established by the Chinese Academy of History. Liaoning Provincial Museum on the second stamp is a large modern comprehensive museum of history and art. Hubei Provincial Museum on the third stamp is a state-level museum housing a collection of cultural relics in complete systems, abundant quantity, exquisite quality and distinctive regional characteristics, therefore enjoying a high reputation at home and abroad. Hunan Museum on the fourth stamp is the largest history and art museum in Hunan province and one of the first batch of state-level museums. It houses such featured collections as the cultural relics excavated from the world-famous Mawangdui Tombs of Han Dynasty, the bronze wares of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, cultural relics of Chu State, pottery and porcelain works from various dynasties, calligraphy works and paintings, religious objects, handicrafts and cultural relics of modern times. Sanxingdui Museum on the fifth stamp, whose new building is constructed in line with the world-class museums, is currently the largest single building of an archaeological site museum in southwest China. The cultural relics in the museum vividly reveal the glory of the ancient Shu civilization, highlighting the permanent charm of Chinese culture and the times.

Each stamp is designed with distinctive anti-counterfeiting ink technology, and the distinctive ink in turn gives each stamp a sense of mystery and unique charms in color and texture. The stamps perfectly combine engraving technology with architecture, where the elaborately ordered carving lines integrate the engravers’ superb craftsmanship and the high-precision laser engraving technology, outlining the beautiful pictures of these buildings. The stamps embody the artisans’ painstaking efforts and skills. With exquisite printing technology, superb engraving, unique anti-counterfeiting ink and exquisite designs, they can make rare art treasures.

This set of stamps will be available for six months 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 and the WeChat mini program of China Post Group. To present more information about the stamps, China Post will release their digital contents through the WeChat mini program “Encyclopedia of China Philately and Stamps”, where philatelists can learn more about the stamps via its AR function.