Scott No: -
Serial number: 2025-12
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: July 27th, 2025
Denomination: 550 fen
Designer: Wang Huming
Size of stamps: 56 * 33 mm
Perforation: 13
Sheet composition:
12 for Sheet I;
10 for Sheet II (2 sets)
Size of sheet:
161 * 240 mm for Sheet I;
188 * 205 mm for Sheet II
Printing process:
Stamps: Offset + Engraving
Printing House: Henan Provincial Post & Telecommunications Technology Co., Ltd

China Post is scheduled to issue a set of 5 special stamps themed "World Cultural Heritage - The Central Axis of Beijing" on July 27, 2025. The stamps are titled Yongding Gate, Zhengyang Gate, Tiananmen Rostrum, The Forbidden City & Jingshan Hill, and the Bell and Drum Towers respectively. The total face value of the complete set is 5.50 yuan. The planned issuance volume stands at 5.7 million sets of regular stamps and 693,000 sheets of Format 2.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out during his inspection tour in Beijing: "Beijing's historical and cultural heritage is a magnificent testimony to the time-honored Chinese civilization. We must protect it with even greater care and highlight the overall value of Beijing's history and culture." The Central Axis of Beijing is an outstanding example of Beijing's profound historical and cultural accumulation, and a "golden calling card" representing not only the city but also the entire Chinese civilization.

Located at the center of Beijing's old town, the Central Axis of Beijing was first built in the 13th century and took shape in the 16th century, consisting of 15 heritage components. Starting from the Bell and Drum Towers in the north, it stretches southward past Wanling Bridge, Jingshan Hill, the Forbidden City, Duanmen Gate, Tiananmen Rostrum, the Outer Golden Water Bridge, Tiananmen Square and its surrounding buildings, Zhengyang Gate, and the remains of roads in the southern section of the axis, finally reaching Yongding Gate in the south. The Ancestral Temple and the Altar of Land and Grain, as well as the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Agriculture, lie respectively on the east and west sides of the axis. With a total length of 7.8 kilometers, the axis runs north-south through the old town, serving as an integrated complex of buildings and relics that governs the overall planning pattern of the old town. These heritage components cover five types of historical remains, including ancient imperial gardens, ancient imperial sacrificial buildings, ancient urban management facilities, national ceremonial and public buildings, and the remains of central roads. Having undergone continuous improvement, they have formed an orderly and magnificent urban architectural complex. This complex bears witness to the ideal imperial capital order that has influenced China's capital construction traditions for over 2,000 years, reflects the Chinese people's pursuit and shaping of an ideal order in the country, cities, and daily life, and stands as a significant symbol embodying the prominent characteristics of Chinese civilization.

This set of stamps showcases many major historical relics along the Central Axis from south to north, including Yongding Gate, Zhengyang Gate, Tiananmen Rostrum, the Forbidden City, Jingshan Hill, and the Bell and Drum Towers.

Yongding Gate is located at the southern end of the Central Axis of Beijing. Once serving as the main south gate of the outer city of ancient Beijing, it has witnessed the traditional urban management methods of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The architectural form of its city tower marks the southern end of the Central Axis of Beijing, demonstrating the traditional forms and craftsmanship of ancient Chinese city tower construction, and serving as a key viewing point for overlooking the southern section of the axis.

Zhengyang Gate stands at the southern end of Tiananmen Square, consisting of two towering buildings arranged north-south: the main city tower in the north and the archery tower in the south. As the largest city gate with the highest architectural rank in Beijing's old town, Zhengyang Gate has witnessed traditional Chinese urban management practices and also serves as an important vantage point for viewing Tiananmen Square, its surrounding buildings, and the southern section of the Central Axis from above.

Tiananmen Rostrum is situated south of Duanmen Gate and north of the Outer Golden Water Bridge, facing Tiananmen Square. Centered on the main city tower, the site features the symmetrically built Outer Golden Water Bridge, stone lions, and marble balustrades on both the north and south sides of the tower, aligned perfectly with the Central Axis of Beijing. Serving as the main gate of the imperial city during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Tiananmen Rostrum was a venue for issuing imperial edicts in those dynasties and has hosted major state events in modern times. As a carrier of national rituals, it still performs important ceremonial functions to this day.

Backed by Jingshan Hill to the north and preceded by Tiananmen Rostrum and Duanmen Gate to the south, the Forbidden City served as the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Its layout embodies the principle of "centrality as the most honorable", with core buildings distributed along the central axis. Its positional relationship with Beijing's old town reflects the ancient Chinese capital planning concept of "selecting the central location for the imperial palace". As a venue for imperial state celebrations, government affairs handling, and daily living of the royal family in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City has witnessed the development of the pattern of diversity in unity of Chinese civilization. The establishment of the Palace Museum marks a crucial milestone in the process of opening the Central Axis of Beijing to the public.

Jingshan Hill, an imperial garden of the Ming and Qing dynasties, has a neat rectangular shape and is divided into north and south areas. As a commanding height and a key landscape node on the Central Axis of Beijing, its layout combined with the Forbidden City embodies the traditional planning concepts of Chinese imperial gardens and greatly enriches the landscape sequence of the axis. Jingshan Hill and its unique garden landscapes serve dual functions: hosting ritual sacrifices and providing a platform for climbing high to enjoy the view of the entire city, thus bearing witness to the national ritual traditions of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Wanling Bridge is located in the middle of Di'anmen Outer Street and on the east bank of Shichahai Lake, spanning the Yuhe Waterway from north to south. First built in the Yuan Dynasty, it is the oldest bridge on the Central Axis of Beijing. Its location and transportation functions have remained unchanged for over seven centuries. As the intersection of the Central Axis of Beijing and the Yuhe section of the Grand Canal, it serves as a vital gateway for the Yuhe water system to flow into Shichahai Lake and an important bridge connecting the north and south of the city. It preserves historical information from different periods since the Yuan Dynasty and provides important material evidence for the overlapping development of the Central Axis of Beijing after the Yuan Dynasty.

Standing tall in the traditional block at the northern end of the Central Axis of Beijing, the Bell and Drum Towers form a striking contrast with the low-lying, spacious residential buildings around them, which are built with blue bricks and gray tiles. Undertaking the functions of timekeeping and time announcement for the city, they are important urban management facilities and have witnessed the traditional lifestyle of timekeeping through bells and drums in ancient China. With their magnificent architecture and large size, the Bell and Drum Towers stand as a commanding height in the old inner city and serve as a key vantage point for overlooking the northern section of the Central Axis.

The stamps adopt an axisymmetric composition and a head-on viewing angle, integrating the artistic conception of traditional heavy blue-green color painting with modern graphic decoration techniques. Combining elaborate detail work with freehand brushwork and balancing virtual and real elements, they depict the core buildings along the 7.8-kilometer Central Axis of Beijing from south to north. The solemn and magnificent images showcase the historical development, cultural inheritance of the Central Axis of Beijing and the aesthetic ideas of ancient Chinese architecture, exuding a unique artistic charm.

The stamps are printed using the offset and engraving combination process supplemented by special techniques. The golden base color, as the main tone, symbolizes the "golden calling card" of Chinese civilization. The rich colors integrated with the delicate texture of the paper not only enhance the elegant and subtle texture of the axis buildings on the stamps but also highlight the profound cultural heritage of Chinese architecture accumulated over history. To emphasize the beauty of the buildings' lines, the main buildings on the 5 stamps are specially printed using the intaglio engraving process. The meticulously designed engraving lines make the buildings look more orderly, transforming the elaborate design language in details into tangible craft symbols. To reflect the splendid history of the buildings on the Central Axis of Beijing, the cold stamping process is used to enhance the details of the stamps. Meanwhile, to show the magnificent night view of the axis buildings lit up with lights, the full-color printing process is adopted. Under ultraviolet light, each main building is paired with a complementary background pattern. The images, which combine dynamic and static elements as well as virtual and real scenes, create a visual feast of "one stamp, two scenes", implying the sincere wish for the Chinese nation to thrive and for prosperity and peace to prevail.

This set of stamps is designed by Wang Huming, edited by Gan Zhige, and printed by Henan Post and Telecommunications Technology Co., Ltd. using the offset and engraving combination process with partial stamping.