Scott No: 3194-96
Serial number: 2002-9
Values in set: 3
Miniature sheet: 1
Denomination: 4.40 yuan
Price of M/S: 6.60 yuan
Date of issue: 1st May 2002
Designer: Guo Chenghui
Size of stamp:
50*38 mm for Value 1 and 3;
38*50 mm for Value 2
Size of M/S: 145 * 100 mm
Perforation: 11.5
Sheet composition: 24
Printing process: photogravure
Printer: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing House

The stamp set is cataloged as 2002-9, titled Lijiang Ancient Town. It was issued on May 1, 2002. The set consists of three stamps in a photogravure edition printed by Beijing Stamp Printing Works. The designer is Guo Chenghui. The total face value is 4.4 yuan. Each stamp measures 50×38 mm, with a perforation gauge of 11.5 degrees. Each sheet contains 24 stamps.

Lijiang Ancient Town is located in Lijiang, Yunnan. It was first built at the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. It was an important commercial town on the Tea Horse Road and is one of the few ancient towns in China without city walls. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997. The town has an extensive water system, with flagstone streets crisscrossing throughout. The architecture blends native Naxi style with Central Plains construction techniques and preserves a rich Dongba culture. It is known as the "Suzhou of the Plateau." This stamp set features three iconic landscapes of the ancient town, showcasing its architectural character and the cultural heritage of the Naxi people.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Sifang Street

Sifang Street is the core of Lijiang Ancient Town and its commercial center. The streets radiate outward from the square, which is square in shape. The stamp shows the connected Naxi ancient buildings around the square, with tiered pavilions. The flagstones of the square have been polished smooth by a century of foot traffic. In ancient times, this was the market of the Tea Horse Road, where caravans from north and south gathered to trade. Shops lined the streets, and it remains a gathering place for people in the ancient town today. It bears witness to centuries of ethnic commercial exchange in northwestern Yunnan and is the core symbol of the ancient town's vitality.

Clear Streams of the Ancient Town

Lijiang Ancient Town is defined by its water. The spring water from Black Dragon Pool is diverted into multiple branches that flow naturally along the streets, creating a pattern where every household has running water at its door. The stamp depicts small bridges and murmuring streams in the alleys, with old houses built along the water. The clear water meanders gently. This living water system served as the ancient town's water supply and drainage system in the past and also created the unique landscape of small bridges and flowing streams. Water culture is the essence of Lijiang Ancient Town's spatial layout, nourishing generations of Naxi people.

Naxi Dwellings

Naxi dwellings are the main body of the ancient town's architecture. The stamp shows a typical Naxi courtyard complex, using a through-tenon timber frame, adobe walls, and gray tile roofs, following the classic layout of "three rooms and one screen wall, four courtyards and five light wells." The architecture blends native Naxi construction techniques with elements of Han and Bai architecture. The courtyard spaces are restrained and elegant, with flowers and plants decorating the gardens. These dwellings meet the needs of living, lighting, and wind protection. They are a physical carrier of Naxi architectural wisdom, embodying the Naxi people's customs and aesthetics.

Artistic and Design Features

The stamps use the photogravure process, with warm and soft colors, delicately reproducing the texture of gray tiles and wooden structures and the translucent light and shadow of the streams. The three stamps each have independent compositions with distinct color tones. Each stamp is paired with corresponding Dongba script, adding cultural symbols of the ancient Naxi civilization. The designs use realistic landscape painting to present the ancient town's character, with simple backgrounds that highlight the spatial relationships between architecture, water systems, and streets. They integrate natural scenery, ancient dwellings, and Dongba culture, fully presenting the unique character of the World Cultural Heritage site of Lijiang Ancient Town.