#545 China...Thanks Zhang!

The 1.20 yuan stamp is from 2007 China-Indonesia joint issue illustrating Lion Dance.

Lion dance (simplified Chinese: 舞狮; traditional Chinese: 舞獅; pinyin: wǔshī) is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture, in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume. The lion dance is often mistaken as dragon dance. An easy way to tell the difference is that a lion is operated by two people, while a dragon needs many people. Also, in a lion dance, the performers' faces are covered, since they are inside the lion. In a dragon dance, the performers can be seen since the dragon is held upon poles. Basic lion dance fundamental movements can be found in most Chinese martial arts.

#415 China...Thanks Huo!

This 1.2yuan stamp is from 2008 Zhuxian Town Woodblock New Year Painting issue featuring a martial God in Tang Dynasty.

With a history of over 800 years. Zhuxian Town Woodblock New Year pictures are one of the oldest folk woodblock arts in China. Zhuxian Town is near Kaifeng. capital city in central Henan Province.

Local people still adopt the traditional techniques to produce New Year pictures now. Zhuxian New Year Picture originated in the Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
There used to be more than 300 picture workshops. But they were reduced to no more than 70 at the end of the Qing Dynasty .

The themes vary from portraits of martial and intellectual gods to portraits of spirits. The themes are classified into three categories: 1. Exorcising ghosts and conferring blessing; 2. Propitious gods and customs; 3. Theatrical and historical legends.

#377 China...Thanks Fan!

The two 1.20yuan stamps are from 2009 Summer Palace issue.

The Summer Palace or Yihe Yuan (simplified Chinese: 颐和园; traditional Chinese: 頤和園; pinyin: Yíhé Yuán; literally "Gardens of Nurtured Harmony") is a palace in Beijing, China. The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill (60 meters high) and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In the Summer Palace, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures.

The Summer Palace started out life as the Garden of Clear Ripples (simplified Chinese: 清漪园; traditional Chinese: 清漪園; pinyin: Qīngyī Yuán) in 1750 (Reign Year 15 of Emperor Qianlong). Artisans reproduced the garden architecture styles of various palaces in China. Kunming Lake was created by extending an existing body of water to imitate the West Lake in Hangzhou. The palace complex suffered two major attacks—during the Anglo-French allied invasion of 1860 (with the Old Summer Palace also ransacked at the same time), and during the Boxer Rebellion, in an attack by the eight allied powers in 1900. The garden survived and was rebuilt in 1886 and 1902. In 1888, it was given the current name, Yihe Yuan. It served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, who diverted 30 million taels of silver, said to be originally designated for the Chinese navy (Beiyang Fleet), into the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value." It is a popular tourist destination but also serves as a recreational park.

The 60fen stamp is from 2000 Stampin' the Future Children's Stamp Design Contest issue.

#308 China...Thanks Fan!

The two 1.20 yuan stamps on the upper right corner is the 3rd series of Ancient Wise Children's Story issued in 2008 featuring Cao Chong Weighing an Elephant..

Cao Chong (196–208) was a son of the powerful 3rd century Chinese Chancellor Cao Cao.He was renowned as a child prodigy, having the intelligence of an adult at the age of five. He is best known for his ingenious method of weighing an elephant using the law of buoyancy. Cao Chong died of sickness at the age of thirteen.

On one occasion, the southern warlord Sun Quan sent a gift of an elephant to Cao Cao, who wished to know the animal's weight. No one could think of a method but young Cao Chong had an ingenious idea. Somewhat similar to Archimedes' solution to the legendary Problem of the Crown, Cao Chong asked to have the elephant loaded onto a boat, on which the water level was marked. The elephant was then replaced with smaller weighable objects until the boat was submerged to the same level. The weight of the elephant could then be found out by summing up the weights of all the objects.

The 60 fen stamp is from 1995 Scenic Views of Hong Kong issue depicting Hong Kong Cultural Center,which is located on the southwestern tip of Tsim Sha Tsui, on the former location of the Kowloon Station of the Kowloon-Canton Railway. Adjacent to the centre on the west is the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier of the Star Ferry, while to the east are the Hong Kong Space Museum and Hong Kong Museum of Art. The historic Clock Tower stands between the centre and the pier.

The last 1.20 yuan stamp is from 2008 Beijing Opera: The Jing issue featuring Cao Cao.

Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China. Major performance troupes are based in Beijing and Tianjin in the north, and Shanghai in the south. The art form is also enjoyed in Taiwan, where it is known as Guoju (國劇; pinyin: Guójù)

Beijing opera features four main types of performers:The Sheng(生),The Dan (旦),The Jing (净) and The Chou (丑).

The Jing (净) is a painted face male role. Depending on the repertoire of the particular troupe, he will play either primary or secondary roles. This type of role will entail a forceful character, so a Jing must have a strong voice and be able to exaggerate gestures.Beijing opera boasts 15 basic facial patterns, but there are over 1000 specific variations. Each design is unique to a specific character. The patterns and coloring are thought to be derived from traditional Chinese color symbolism and divination on the lines of a person's face, which is said to reveal personality. Easily recognizable examples of coloring include red, which denotes uprightness and loyalty, white, which represents evil or crafty characters, and black, which is given to characters of soundness and integrity.

#301 China...Thanks Ma!

The left 2 yuan stamp is from 1992 Insects issue showing Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) which is a species of praying mantis.

The Chinese mantis looks like a long and slender praying mantis, with different shades of brown. The adult has a green lateral line down its front wings. It is typically larger than most other mantises, growing up to 10 cm (4 inches) in length, and are the largest mantis species in North America. This species is often erroneously given the taxonomic name of Tenodera aridifolia sinensis. When first classified, it was thought that T. sinensis was a subspecies of T. aridifolia but this is not the case.

Their diet consists primarily of other insects, though adult females can sometimes take down small vertebrate prey such as reptiles and amphibians (some have also been documented predating on hummingbirds). Like some other mantids, they are known to be cannibalistic. The female can produce several spherical ootheca roughly the size of a table tennis ball, containing up to 200 eggs. The ootheca are often affixed to vegetation such as bushes and small trees, as seen in the image below.

Their color can vary from overall green to brown with a green lateral stripe on the edge of the front wings. In low light the eyes of the mantis appear black, but in daylight appear to be clear, matching the color of the head.

The right 2 yuan stamp was issued in 1992 commemorating 20th Anniv. of Normalization of Diplomatic Relations between China and Japan.

#252 China...Thanks Shou!

The 1.20 Yuan stamp is from 2007 Nianhua (New Year Woodprints) of Mianzhu,Sichuan Province issue.

Until the mid-20th century, nianhua (New Year woodblock prints) were the most common form of household decoration in China. As the title of the genre suggests, most nianhua were designed to facilitate New Year celebrations, and with their themes of enduring optimism and brilliant colours they brought a spark of light into an otherwise dreary mid-winter environment. Once posted, however, they would stay in place, continuing to influence the spiritual, social and cultural values of the family long after the initial festival had passed.

The 20fen and 40fen stamps are from 1996 Selection of Works of Huang Binhong issue.

Huáng Bīnhóng (黃賓虹) (1865-1955) was an art historian and literati painter born in Jinhua in Zhejiang province. He is considered one of the last innovators in the literati style of painting and is noted for his freehand landscapes. His painting style showed the influence of the earlier painters Li Liufang (李流芳), Cheng Sui (程邃), Cheng Zhengkui, and Kun Can.

He also had significance for creating several societies devoted to painting and calligraphy.

#234 China...Thanks Zhuang!

The 5.40 yuan stamp is from 1998 China-Germany joint-issue showing The Punning Temple (普宁寺), or Temple of Universal Peace of Chengde in Hebei province.

The Punning Temple is a Qing Dynasty era Buddhist temple complex built in 1755, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735-1796 AD) to show the Qing's respect to the ethnic minorities. It is located near the Chengde Mountain Resort, and alongside the equally famed Putuo Zongcheng Temple, it is one of the "Eight Outer Temples" of Chengde. Much how the Putuo Zongcheng Temple was modeled after the Tibetan Potala Palace, the Puning Temple was modeled after the Samye Monastery, the sacred Lamaist site in Tibet. The front temple was constructed in the Chinese style, although the temple complex follows both Chinese and Tibetan architectural styles. The Puning Temple also houses the world's tallest wooden sculpture of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (22.28-meter-high and 110-ton), hence the Puning Temple is often nicknamed the "Big Buddha Temple". The complex features temple halls, pavilions, drum towers and bell towers.

As of 1994, the Chengde Mountain Resort and Chengde's Eight Outer Temples (including the Puning Temple) were established as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Today, the Puning Temple remains a site of tourist attraction and local festivities.

#226 China...Thanks Xue!

The 2.80 Yuan stamp in the middle-top of the cover is from 2001 issue of Six Steeds in Zhao Mausoleum showing Steed Baitiwu.

Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum (Chinese: 昭陵六骏; Pinyin: Zhāolíng Liùjùn) are six Tang (618-907) Chinese stone reliefs of horses (1.7m x 2.0m each) which were located in the Zhao Mausoleum, Shaanxi, China.

Zhao Mausoleum is the mausoleum of Emperor Taizong of Tang (r. 626-649). The steeds were six precious war horses of Taizong.

Their names are: Quanmaogua (拳毛騧), Shifachi (什伐赤), Baitiwu (白蹄乌), Telebiao (特勒骠), Qingzhui (青骓) and Saluzi (飒露紫).

The sculptures are regarded as ancient Chinese art treasures. They were broken by smugglers in 1914 and two of them were shipped out. The stonework is exhibited in the Stele Forest museum of Xi'an (Shifachi, Baitiwu, Telebiao and Qingzhui) and museum of the University of Pennsylvania, USA (Quanmaogua and Saluzi) separately.