News
16 October 2003
Joint Stamp Issue of Hongkong Post, China Post and Macau Post on "The Successful Flight of China's First Manned Spacecraft"
To commemorate the successful flight of China's first manned spacecraft, the Postmaster General, Mr. Allan CHIANG, announced that Hongkong Post, China Post and Macau Post have each issued today (16 October 2003) a set of two special stamps. The three postal administrations have also jointly issued a stamp booklet containing all six stamps in the form of three separate souvenir sheets. This is the third joint stamp issue of the three postal administrations.
The two stamps issued by Hongkong Post depict "Launching (HK$1.40)" and "Orbiting (HK$1.40)" of China's first manned spacecraft; the two stamps issued by China Post feature the "Heroic Carriage (RMB 0.8)" and "Return in triumph (RMB 2)" of the astronaut and the spacecraft, while the two stamps issued by Macau Post portray the "Ready to launch (MOP 1.00)" and "Monitoring (MOP 1.50)" situation.
The stamps are sold in panes of ten pieces. They are designed by Mr. WANG Huming and LIU Xiangping, and printed in photogravure by Beijing Stamp Printing Factory, The People's Republic of China. To give prominence to this exhilarating event, reddish fluorescent ink is specially applied during printing to make the stamps more attractive. This distinctive printing effect can be seen under ultraviolet light.
Information about associated philatelic products of this issue and the sales restriction starting from today are as follows:
| Products | Unit Selling Price | Sales Restriction Per Customer |
|---|---|---|
Stamp Booklet
|
$12.80 | 5 booklets |
Mini-pane
|
$14 | 5 panes |
Presentation Pack
|
$12 | 5 packs |
Serviced First Day Cover
|
$6.30 | 5 covers |
Serviced First Day Cover
|
$6.30 | 5 covers |
Official First Day Covers at $1.00 each are put on sale at all post offices while serviced First Day Covers are only sold at philatelic offices.
Hand-back service are provided at all post offices today for official and privately-made covers bearing the first day of issue indication and a local address. Because of the short notice of this special issue, no special postmark is introduced. However, the "GPO-1" postmark, the "Philatelic Bureau" pictorial postmark and the philatelic office pictorial postmarks will be available for hand-back service at all philatelic offices.
The public hall of the Hongkong Post Philatelic Bureau will open today from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for datestamping covers with the "Philatelic Bureau" pictorial postmark and the "GPO-1" postmark.
In view of the late notification of the issue of the stamps, all 39 philatelic offices, including those which normally close at 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, will close at 6:00 p.m. today to allow more time for customers to make purchases and datestamp covers. Hongkong Post will send out forms by post today to all existing 2003 Local Standing Order Service (LSOS) customers for placement of orders within two weeks and a minimum supply of one mini-pane and one stamp booklet is guaranteed.
Hongkong Post hosted the Press Briefing on "The Successful Flight of China's First Manned Spacecraft" Joint Stamp Issue of Hongkong Post, China Post and Macau Post at the General Post Office on 16 October 2003. Mr. Allan CHIANG, Postmaster General of Hongkong Post showed the philatelic products at the briefing session.
The enclosed photographs show 3 souvenir sheets, each embedded with 2 stamps of Hongkong Post (top), China Post (middle), and Macau Post (bottom) on the theme "The Successful Flight of China's First Manned Spacecraft".