Scott No: -
Serial number: 2013-12
Values in set: 8
Date of issue: May 19, 2013
Denomination: 960 fen
Designer: Shi Yuan
Size of stamps: 44 * 33 mm
Perforation: 13
Sheet composition:
15 for Sheet I (8 Values);
8 for Sheet II (2 Values)
Size of sheet:
160 * 220 mm for Sheet I;
155 * 170 mm for Sheet II
Printing process: Offset and Engraving
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

"Ancient Towns of China (I)" is a special stamp set issued by China Post on May 19, 2013, with catalog number 2013-12. The set consists of eight stamps, each with a face value of 1.20 yuan. This set is the first installment in the "Ancient Towns of China" series. The date of issue was deliberately chosen to coincide with China Tourism Day. The core purpose of this issue is to document China's traditional architectural heritage, folk customs, and original spatial forms. Through the "national calling card" of stamps, it promotes the distinctive ancient towns that have been designated as "China's Famous Historical and Cultural Towns," fostering the preservation of ancient town culture and the development of cultural tourism.

The stamps were designed by Shi Yuan. Based on photographs of real scenes, the designs employ a pen-and-ink light wash technique with panoramic compositions, rich in everyday life atmosphere. The overall color palette is simple and elegant, accurately capturing the iconic architecture and unique cultural character of each ancient town. The stamps were printed using a combination of offset and engraving techniques, primarily relying on engraved lines supplemented by offset colors, giving the depictions of the ancient towns a three-dimensional quality while maintaining harmony and unity. The stamps measure 44×33 mm, with a perforation gauge of 13 degrees. Anti-counterfeiting features include anti-counterfeiting paper, anti-counterfeiting ink, shaped perforations, and fluorescent spray codes. The stamps were printed by Beijing Stamp Printing Works.

Detailed Introductions to the Eight Ancient Towns:

Qiantong Town, Ninghai, Zhejiang
Founded in the sixth year of the Shaoding era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1233 CE), this is a typical example of an original Ming and Qing Dynasty ancient town in the Jiangnan region. It preserves over 1,300 various ancient buildings, featuring a distinctive "Eight Trigrams" water system where "every household has carved beams, and every home has running water." The Lantern Festival Cultural Tourism Festival has been passed down for centuries. It is a famous historical and cultural town in Zhejiang Province.

Laitan Town, Hechuan, Chongqing
Founded during the Song Dynasty, this is a well-known ancient mountain fortress in Chongqing, situated along the Qujiang River. It preserves the core remnants of Ming and Qing Dynasty ancient streets and the Erfo Temple cliff carvings. It is a historical and cultural town that combines the distinctive landscape of Bashan and Chongqing with Buddhist cultural heritage.

Heping Town, Shaowu, Fujian
Known as "No. 1 Street in Fujian" in ancient times, this town preserves a complete layout of Ming and Qing Dynasty ancient streets and lanes. It is a living fossil of commercial culture in northern Fujian, featuring numerous historical buildings such as Heping Academy and the Drum Tower, and preserving unique northern Fujian Hakka folk customs.

Jingziguan Town, Xichuan, Henan
Located at the junction of Henan, Hubei, and Shaanxi provinces, this was an important commercial town on the ancient Danjiang waterway. The five-mile-long Ming and Qing street is well preserved, and historical sites such as the "Provincial Government Office of Three Provinces" bear witness to the commercial prosperity of this thousand-year-old land-and-water port, representing a typical example of cultural fusion between north and south.

Heshun Town, Tengchong, Yunnan
Founded during the Ming Dynasty, this is a renowned overseas Chinese hometown on the southwestern Silk Road. It boasts the largest rural library in the country. Its ancient residences blend Central Plains culture with architectural features from South Asia and Southeast Asia, and it has been hailed as "one of China's ten most charming ancient towns."

Tangjiawan Town, Zhuhai, Guangdong
A cultural town famous for producing many modern Lingnan celebrities. It preserves a large number of Lingnan arcade buildings and ancient residences from the late Qing and early Republican periods. It is one of the important birthplaces of China's modern industry and commerce, with a profound Xiangshan cultural heritage.

Lizhuang Town, Yibin, Sichuan
Known as "No. 1 Ancient Town on the Yangtze River," it was established as an administrative center as early as the sixth year of the Datong era of the Southern Liang Dynasty (540 CE). During the War of Resistance against Japan, it served as a relocation site for over ten cultural institutions, including the China Society for the Study of Ancient Architecture and Tongji University, making it one of China's most important cultural centers during wartime. It preserves national treasure-level buildings such as the Xuanluo Hall.

Jingsheng Town, Lingshi, Shanxi
A core representative of Jin merchant culture, with the Wang Family Courtyard as its landmark architectural complex. The Ming and Qing Dynasty residences are grand in scale and exquisitely carved, fully displaying the architectural style and traditional clan culture of northern Shanxi merchant compounds.