Scott No: 2010-11
Serial number: J121
Values in set: 2
Date of issue: October 6, 1985
Denomination: 28 fen
Designers: Wang Huaiqing
Size of stamps: 30*40mm
Perforation: 11.5*11
Sheet composition: 50 (10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

J121 "The First National Youth Games" commemorative stamps were issued on October 6, 1985. The set consists of 2 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Wang Huaiqing, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory.

Theme of the Set

The First National Youth Games were held in Zhengzhou, Henan, and were a comprehensive sports gala for young people. This set takes this occasion to present the vigorous and striving outlook of young people, encourage the broad masses of youth to actively participate in sports and build strong bodies, cultivate the sports spirit of striving and forging ahead, and carry the beautiful expectations for the younger generation to grow up healthily and strive to be the first.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Young Woman · Track and Field

With a yellow background, the main subject is the head of a young woman, with silhouettes of several track-and-field athletes running superimposed above, full of dynamism, symbolizing the never-ending running and surpassing on the track-and-field field.

Young Man · Basketball

With a red background, the main subject is the head of a young man, with the silhouette of a basketball player leaping to shoot superimposed above, expressing the vitality and competitive charm of basketball.

Artistic Design Features

The set adopts the creative design technique of modern superimposed silhouettes, breaking away from the conventional realistic painting approach of earlier sports stamps. The heads and sports silhouettes are integrated above and below, with strong color contrasts and concise, avant-garde compositions, full of the modern design sense of the 1980s and highlighting the vitality and vigor of young people. It is a set with a highly innovative style among JT sports stamps.