The Fair is still going strong, many years after this 1970s photo. Two cards are available. One is unused (Grade: 2, $4.50) and the other was mailed from Guangzhou in 1978, with a stamp and full postmark (Grade: 1, $9)

Aged, unused card from the 1970s before tourists–not the Mongols–overran this section of the Wall just outside Beijing. Grade: 2

Twelve of these unused cards are available, straight from the Riverside Hotel that issued them. Eleven are as-new (Grade: 1, $3) while the other just looks a bit as though it was plucked from a bin (Grade: 2, $2).

As Chinese postcards go, this may be one of the more mysterious.  Hard to judge from the perspective, but these cranes might be really, really large.  Two cards are available, both mailed in 1988, both with two stamps and partial postmarks.   One is Grade: 1: $3, and the other is beginning to blister on the front (Grade: 3, $2).

This Foreign Languages Press card (no index number) was mailed in 1978 with s stamp and partial postmark. Grade: 1

Card was mailed from Nanning in 1978, shortly after China opened up again to foreign casual visitors. The card has a stamp and full postmark. Grade: 2

Don’t confuse this with the classic view of the real Suzhou, the town famous for its ancient canals.  What we have here is Shanghai.  The card was mailed in the late 1970s, with stamp and very blurry postmark.  Grade: 1

This card was mailed in 1980 from Shiqi, Chang Shan, with two large and colourful stamps and a full postmark. Grade: 1

Sepia-toned unused and highly aged card, but really if you just look into it you feel like you’re there–and it’s a bit grim. Grade: 2

Another card from Universal Postcard & Picture Co. of Shanghai (#220), which produced–in our view–the best of the earliest cards from this country. It’s a subjective opinion, we know. This one is unused, gently aged, and great addition to the serious collection of early Chinese postcards. Grade: 2

In case it’s hard to read, let us repeat the caption: H.I.H. Prince Fushimi’s writing on War Monument tablet, Port Arthur (together with) Russian Canet-gun at Hakugyokuzan Hill, Port Arthur. That should give you plenty to research. This otherwise unused card has a large pink explanatory chop on the front, with residue on the reverse as well. A lot of history here. Grade: 2  

Mukden Gate, unused card, atmospheric and detailed. Grade: 2

Bird cage? We’re not experts on Manchurian customs, alas. Nice, unused card with corner album indents visible on reverse but not on the front. Grade: 2

An iconic view on this unused, aged card, showing album indents on the corners but otherwise undamaged. Grade: 2

Peking is nowhere to be seen in this countryside view of the Chinese equivalent of a covered wagon. The card is unused and was printed in Germany. The right and left edges are abraded to suggest they were roughly cut from a strip, but we weren’t there when that happened; there are also minor album indents on reverse corners. A lovely card overall. Grade: 1  

Unused card #222 from Universal Postcard and Picture Co. of Shanghai. Despite minor edge abrasions, it’s another great entry in this series. Grade: 2

It’s impossible now to know what this unused card would have looked like when it was new, though clearly a bit of colour would have helped. However it is still special in its own way, as it was issued by the South Manchuria Railway Company of Dairen and is not damaged. Grade: 2  

We like it that the caption writer says this is an “actual view” because we hate to think this pose was done just for the card! What a jovial group it is, too. Terrific card, mailed, with its 1-1/2 sen stamp and fully legible postmark and message written in Japanese. Some latent creasing but a wonderful ethnographic addition to your collection. Grade: 2  

The caption, which may be too tiny for the scan, says: “The spot where General Nogi interviewed General Stoesslor, Suishiei, Ryojun.” The only way we could find in Google to learn anything about this was to enter “Suishiei” because there were so many different spellings of Stoesslor, and sure enough, the meeting was in 1904 at this location near Dalian at the time of the Russo-Japanese war. Japanese general Nogi Maresuke and Russian general Anatoly Mikhailovich Stessel (Stoesslor?) agreed on a cease-fire in that house, which was owned by a doctor. Apparently the agreement was signed on the operating table. The card came later, of course. Grade: 2