COVER N. 254 - CHINA  

Postmark: ? 08.02.2023

Posted on the 20h April; Received on the 18th May 2023
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One of the advantages of being out in the open with this blog of mine  is that once in a while I get mail from a fellow collector somewhere on  another spot of our ellipsoid, asking for a swap.

That's what happened with Ruinan, who contacted me from China and from whom I got this envelope graced with 4 nice stamps, as Chinese stamps usually are. Thank you so much Ruinan.

If one looks at the date on the postmark though, it is easy to conclude that the ride wasn't easy, since the journey between China and Portugal took three and a half months to conclude, which, judging from other mail I got from the same country is not that typical.

The reason for this is clear though when one looks at the stamped "Surface" indication on the cover that was applied by the Chinese post office, even though Ruinan tells me that the amount of postage he used was correct for air mail... 

In the end it got here, that's what matters, and with this little curio embedded, so...all end well that ends well.

Stamps, left to right:

- 80 renminbi fēn stamp, part of a 6 stamp set (3 x80 fen ; 3x 1.20 yuan) dedicated to ancient philosophers, issued on 07OCT2019. The stamp is illustrated with the effigy of philosopher  Wang Shouren (1472 - 1529).

- 1,20 yuan stamp, part of an eight 1,20 Yuan stamp set issued in two sheets of 4X2 on19MAY2013 dedicated to  Chinese old towns.

The image on the stamp is from Tangjiawan Town, located on the West bank of the Pearl River estuary, quite close to Macau.

I find these old town Chinese stamps with their line and colour paintings  really a thing of beauty.

- 1,50 stamps part of  a four (2x1,20 + 2 x1,50 Yuan) stamp set issued on 30MAR2017, dedicated to Chinese classic literature. 

The work invoked by the images on the stamps is "Journey to the west" or Xi Yóu Ji,  a classic novel written in the 16th century, in the Ming Dinasty,  probably by Wu Cheng'en.

Quoting directly from Wikipedia, on the subject of the 100 chapter novel: "(it) is an extended account of the legendary pilgrimage of the Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who traveled to the "Western Regions" (Central Asia and India) to obtain Buddhist sūtras (sacred texts) and returned after many trials and much suffering."