Strange, it almost looks like parts of New York City in the same era. Well, except for the rickshaws. Unused card, heavily aged and atmospheric. Grade: 2

This unused card either started out purple of turned that way over time. It is captioned bilingually in Russian and Japanese only, but we know this to be Kitaiskaya Street, now Zhong Yang Street (Central Street), one of the main business streets in the city. Harbin’s rich mix of international influences suggest this view could have been almost anywhere in the world. Grade: 2  

Heavily aged two-views-for-one card issued by the South Manchuria Railway Co. of Dairen. It’s unused, and because the stock paper is quite rigid, each of the corners is bumped a little bit. If you are into soya beans and railroads, this card should definitely be on your list. Grade: 3  

Unused 1970s card from Peking Publishing House. One side note: not only can’t you see the Wall from outer space, you can’t see it from many airplanes either. That doesn’t make it any less magnificent, though. Grade: 2

This card was mailed, has its stamp and full postmark. We’re not sure whether the postmark’s 6.11.20 means it was sent in the 20th year of the Japanese Emporer’s reign, or in 1920, but if you’ve read this far, we know it’s something you will know. There is a full message, and address, in Japanese. Grade: 1  

We know it’s a sampan, and someone long aso also wrote “sampan” in Japanese on the back of this otherwise uncaptioned real-photo card. It doesn’t indicate that the setting is China but we believe that to be the case. Grade: 2

This is not a postcard. It’s an original photo, 3″ x 4-3/8″, of a close-up of a woman’s bound feet. Her face can be seen blurred in the background. It’s been in an album, and on the reverse is a fading round blue “chop” dated either 1911 or the 11th year of the Japanese Emperor’s reign, we’re not sure which. And no, we’re not even certain if this photo was taken in PRC or in Hong Kong.  Ungraded.  

No western caption on this unmailed card, but plenty of printed and added writing front and back.  It meant something to someone. Grade: 3

This old unused card from Yamadashi Kaigakenkyukai is probably Nanking–we just need to get the captions translated. Grade: 3

This card was mailed from Beijing in 1994, with two stamps and full postmark, and a little bit of postal crinkling around the edges. Grade: 2

This is a folio of eight unused cards of Harbin’s main street. The cardboard wrap has a wonderful little poem in English and Chinese, commemorating the folio itself. The folio (and therefore the cards) was new in the 1990s but the photos are old pictures as main street used to be–not all of it 100 years ago. Plus, each card has 40 fen postage pre-printed on it. So now we tell you the cards were issued by the Ministry of Information. Grade: 1  

Mailed in Hong Kong in 1984, this card has two Hong Kong stamps (one is a little abraded) and a full postmark. There is a blue tri-lingual airmail sticker affixed, and also some postmark smudging on the front. Grade: 3

In Heilongjiang, this park has five connected lakes. The folio of nine cards, published by the Posts and Telecommunications Administration of Wudalianchi and which explains everything in Chinese and English, is as-new. Grade: 1

One of four unused cards from the 1990s, showing a spectacular annual winter event that tests your ability to be cold.  (If all four cards are still available, have the lot for $8.) Grade: 1

Even in the years since this card was mailed (1996), Guangzhou has changed so much–all for the better, we should add–so this is a great contemporary yet historical artifact. Card has three different stamps, two full postmarks, and a Postal Service bar code on bottom reverse. Grade: 3  

The Beihai Park (Chinese: 北海公园; Pinyin: BÄ›ihÇŽi Gōngyuán) is an imperial garden northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing. We thank Wikipedia for this. And the White Dagoba is there. Card was mailed in 1988 with two stamps and most of a postmark and a tale of tourism gone wrong. Grade: 2  

We like to call these “specialty cards” because unless you specialise in power facilities or utilities–and we know lots of you out there do just that–the antique Chinese postcard itself won’t be winning any beauty contests. The artists did a nice trick with fog, though. Unused card with some album indents on the corners. Grade: 2