Scott No: -
Serial number: 2019-2
Values in set: 1
Date of issue: January 10, 2019
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: Offset
Printing House: Liaoning Provincal Postage Stamp Printing Works

China Post scheduled the release of a special stamp set titled "New Year Greetings" on January 10, 2019. The set contains 1 stamp with a face value of 1.20 yuan.

The Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival of the Chinese nation. Bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new year are the two core themes of this festival. "New Year Greetings", also known as "visiting during spring" or "seeking spring", is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. Activities such as visiting relatives and friends, and pasting Spring Festival couplets are all part of the New Year Greetings tradition during the Spring Festival, embodying the strong festive atmosphere of the Chinese New Year.

This stamp set is the fifth in the "New Year Greetings" series. The main image of the stamp features "Huanhuan" and "Xixi", with the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet as the background. Dressed in traditional Tibetan costumes, Huanhuan and Xixi hold "qiema" (a Tibetan ritual object symbolizing auspiciousness) and extend New Year greetings to people of all ethnic groups across the country in Tibetan-inhabited areas. On both sides of the image are the Spring Festival couplet characters: "Snow, moon, ice and stars accompany warm New Year wine; auspiciousness and prosperity fly with colorful clouds". The entire image is relaxed and joyful, filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

China is a unified multi-ethnic country. The design of the "New Year Greetings" stamps continues the previous year's creative concept of integrating elements of ethnic minorities. It conveys the beautiful meaning that people of all ethnic groups in China, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, live a happy life and work together to realize the Chinese Dream.

The stamp was designed by Professor Wu Guanying from the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University. The calligraphy on the stamp border was written by the famous calligrapher Ouyang Zhongshi. The author of the couplet is Chang Jiang, a renowned couplet scholar. The stamp was printed using offset printing technology by Shenyang Post and Telecommunications Printing Factory in Liaoning Province.