Scott No: 1177-78
Serial number: R15
Values in set: 2
Date of issue: October 20, 1973
Denomination: 300 fen
Designer: Li Yinqing
Engraver: Sun Hongnian, Gao Pinzhang
Size of stamps: 36*23mm
Perforation: 11
Sheet composition: 56(7*8)
Printing process: Engraving and photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

R15 "Transportation Patterns" ordinary stamps: the first stamp was issued on October 20, 1973, and a second stamp was added on February 20, 1974, making a set of 2. Printed by photogravure combined with engraving, designed by Li Yinqing, engraved by Sun Hongnian and Gao Pinzhang, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 36 mm × 23 mm, perforation gauge 11, 56 stamps per sheet.

Theme of the Set

This set of high-denomination ordinary stamps was mainly used for pasting on parcels, bulk letters, and other mail with higher postage rates. It selects the two major trunk transport modes of railway and highway, displaying the achievements of China's land transportation construction in the 1970s and reflecting the era's appearance of transportation undertakings supporting industrial and agricultural production and safeguarding the circulation of materials.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Railway Transport

The picture is a winter snowfield scene: in the foreground, a passenger train pulled by a diesel locomotive travels forward; in the distance, on an overpass, a freight train pulled by a steam locomotive moves along. Old and new locomotives appear in the same frame, embodying the pattern of increasing railway transport capacity and the parallel development of passenger and freight transport.

Highway Transport

The picture shows a mountain highway, where a large heavy-duty truck drives on the winding mountain road, surrounded by continuous mountains and lush trees. It reflects the extension of highways into mountain areas, opening up material transport channels in remote areas and giving play to the flexible and mobile advantages of highway transport.

Artistic Design Features

The set adopts the photogravure-plus-engraving process, with solid, crisp engraved lines and clear, realistic depiction of the vehicles' structures. The two stamps differ distinctly in tone: the first uses cool tones to present the snowfield railway, and the second uses green mountains and waters to set off the mountain highway. The compositions are concise and imposing, with strong practicality. It is a representative of the high-denomination ordinary stamps of the 1970s.