Scott No: -
Serial number: 2018-2
Values in set: 1
Date of issue: January 10, 2018
Denomination: 120 fen
Designer: Wu Guanying
Size of stamps: 40 * 30 mm
Perforation: 13
Sheet composition:
20 for Sheet I;
8 for Sheet II
Sheet Size:
240 * 150 mm for sheet I;
140 * 180 mm for Sheet II
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Stamp Printing Works

The Spring Festival is an annual traditional grand festival of the Chinese nation. Centered on the start of the lunar year, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new are the two core themes of this festival. Paying New Year greetings is the main activity to welcome the new year at the beginning of the year, serving as the primary way for people to celebrate with each other and convey sincere wishes in the new year. Warm greetings such as "Happy New Year to you!" and "Happy New Year and all the best!" fill the festival with strong joy and warmth, embodying the unique human touch of the Chinese nation.

To promote the traditional culture of paying New Year greetings, China Post has issued the "New Year Greetings" series of stamps. Three sets were released on January 10, 2015, January 10, 2016, and January 10, 2017 respectively. The 2018 "New Year Greetings" stamp marks the fourth set of the series. On the stamp, two characters named Huanhuan and Xixi are shown extending New Year greetings to people of all ethnic groups across the country in a Zhuang ethnic minority settlement. China is a united and integrated multi-ethnic country. The design of the stamp’s main image carries forward the previous year’s creative concept of integrating ethnic minority elements, striving to create a joyful and enthusiastic festive atmosphere. It conveys the beautiful implication that people of all ethnic groups in China live a happy life and jointly build the Chinese Dream under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

The rice dumplings on the stamp symbolize prosperity and a bumper harvest. The hospitable Zhuang people always offer their finest food to treat guests during the Spring Festival. The embroidered ball is a mascot of the Zhuang ethnic group and a messenger of their ethnic culture, used to convey love, family ties and friendship. On the table in the middle of the picture, there are local characteristic fruits and foods such as pomelos, bananas and five-colored glutinous rice. A split pomegranate with plump and clustered seeds lies there, which is just like the close unity of China's 56 ethnic groups. This vivid image vividly reflects the instruction put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping: "All ethnic groups should understand, respect, tolerate, appreciate, learn from and help each other, and stay closely united like the seeds of a pomegranate." It carries profound meanings, full expectations and a far-reaching artistic conception.

The background is set off by bronze drums and local residential buildings. The Spring Festival couplets on both sides echo the New Year theme of "The scenery of the three spring months arrives with the wind; Happy families embrace joys and the five blessings". The whole picture exudes a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, brimming with the joy of the New Year.