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Mei Li Ba La Ge Zong – pilgrimage
Issued by China Post, and with pre-printed coloured 80 fen postage, this unused card is from a series showing attractions in the immediate Balagezong area. This one is captioned “Balagezong Snow Mountain Pilgrimage and Yangxin Manor” on the front, in Chinese. Grade: 1
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Mei Li Ba La Ge Zong – village
Issued by China Post, and with pre-printed coloured 80 fen postage, this unused card is from a series showing attractions in the immediate Balagezong area. This one is captioned “Overlooking a 1000-year-old village” on the front, in Chinese. Grade: 1
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Mei Li Ba La Ge Zong – Barra
Issued by China Post, and with pre-printed coloured 80 fen postage, this unused card is from a series showing attractions in the immediate Balagezong area. This one is captioned “Barra Village” on the front, in Chinese. Grade: 1
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Mei Li Ba La Ge Zong – mountain
Issued by China Post, and with pre-printed coloured 80 fen postage, this unused card is from a series showing attractions in the immediate Balagezong area. This one is captioned “Gezong Holy Mountain” on the front, in Chinese. Grade: 1
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Mei Li Ba La Ge Zong – Ranch
Issued by China Post, and with pre-printed coloured 80 fen postage, this unused card is from a series showing attractions in the immediate Balagezong area. This one is captioned “Naidang Ranch” on the front, in Chinese. Grade: 1
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Shangri-La, Harmonious Homeland Village
Unused card, captioned in Chinese and Tibetan. Grade: 1
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Shangri-La, Pu Da Cuo lake
Unused, smaller (3″ x 4-7/8″) card issued by China Post in 2016, with pre-printed, coloured, 80 fen postage. Another coloured photo of the card’s front fills the message area. Captioned in Chinese and pinyin. Grade: 1
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Shangri-La, Dukezong
As a reminder, Dukezong is the Ancient Town in Shangri-La city. The town now looks somewhat more modern, and definitely more crowded, than this unused postcard does. Issued by China Post in 2009, coloured pre-printed 80 fen postage along with minor corner bumping from the rack. Grade: 2
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Bala Village (Set of 8)
China Post issued this set of eight connected cards (accordion-style foldout, unused). It’s unusual for several reasons: the link; that each card has an actual 80 fen stamp affixed; and that they did not print the date of issue as they almost always do. Our scan shows the front cardboard cover and one of the eight cards. Much Chinese text on the cover says that “Bala Village is a quiet and peaceful Tibetan village … like an otherworldly mountain flower blooming in a place isolated from the world”. (No longer isolated!) Grade: 1
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Pu Da Cuo National Park (Set of 6)
So small, we’re not even certain we would be allowed to mail these in Hong Kong. A set of six unused 3-1/8″ x 4-7/8″ cards issued by China Post in 2016. Our scan shows the front of its cardboard cover, which is also the essence of one of those six cards. Each card has pre-printed, coloured 80 fen postage. Grade: 1
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Potatso National Park (Set of 4)
From another website, “Potatso National Park, also known as Pudacuo National Park, opened in 2007 and is China’s first national park to be approved by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The park is famous for its primitive landscape and features several scenic hills, meadows, and lakes.” Strangely, Wikipedia contradicts this: “Potatson National Park (普达措国家公园) is a provincially-administered natural reserve in Shangri-la … covering 500-square-miles. Despite the name, it is a national park trial site and is not part of the national park system of China. The park was announced on June 25, 2007, and is notable as the first natural reserve park in China to meet International Union for Conservation of Nature standards. It incorporates the Bita Lake Nature Reserve and the Duhu Scenic Area.” So we don’t know, but these four unusually shaped approx. 4″ x 8-3/4″ cards (two are in our scan) were issued by China Post in 2009, have pre-printed coloured 80 fen postage, QR codes, and extensive Chinese text that calls this a national park as well as a World Heritage site (another website says “This park is a part of the UNESCO designated World Heritage Site of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Area.” That’s all! Unused. Grade: 1
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Tibetan People – clothing (Set of 25)
As part of the process, China Post issues sets commemorating various elements of Tibetan culture, for which Yunnan is famous. In 2009, it issued this group of 25 cards with a Tibetan clothing theme. The cards measure 4″ x 7-1/4″ and have pre-printed, coloured 80 fen postage. Our scan shows the front cardboard cover and one of the cards. It looks like about as comprehensive review of Tibetan costumes as you could ever find. Captioning everywhere. Grade: 1
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Yunnan Impressions – Stage Stills (Set of 21)
From China Post in 2009, a complete set of 21, 4″ x 7-1/4″ cards having pre-printed postage and each with extensive Chinese captioning and explanations on front and back. Our scan shows the front of the (paper) cover and a sample card. “Yunnan Impressions” is an established group, and this set might wear you out as surely as if you were performing with them. Grade: 1
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Yu Long Xue Shan (Mt. Yulong) – transparency
Unused card similar in approach and style to several others in our “Yunnan” and “Novelty” categories, this one showing a fanciful rendition of Mt. Yulong. Grade: 1
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Dali, Wu Hua Lou – transparency
Wu Hua Lou, also known as Wuhua Tower, is a prominent landmark in Dali Ancient City, a five-story structure that was historically used for hosting VIPs and is now a popular tourist attraction. The current structure was rebuilt in 1998, but the original building dated back to the time of the Dali Kingdom. This demonstrates once again that Yunnan’s “Ancient Cities” aren’t always so ancient. The unused card is similar to other transparencies in our “Yunnan” and “Novelty” categories. Grade: 1
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Dali Ancient Town, map
Printed in letterpress format, this unused card is indeed a map but you might not get too far with it. Grade: 1
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Kunming Spring City farewell (Set of 12)
Our scan shows thumbnails on the back cover of this set of 12 “hand-painted postcards”, whose Chinese text on the front cover seems unusually dour to us — but we got the cards anyway. The cover is sealed in an odd way so we can’t open it to see the actual cards, but it says there are 12. Grade: 1
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Yunnan Province – South of Colorful Clouds (Set of 30)
This the back cover, with thumbnails, of a sealed set of 30 cards. 93x143mm, unused. Grade: 1
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I am waiting for you in The Old Town of Shuanglang (Set of 8)
We’re assuming eight cards because that’s what the front cardboard cover of this unopened set suggests. It measures 8-3/8″ x 5-3/4″ and has proof of sale tape and remnants of another price sticker from a museum on the reverse cover, not affecting the cards. We dare not try to break the seal so cannot guarantee how many cards there are, but thumbnails are usually correct. Grade: 1
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China Yunnan (Set of 16)
The formal (translated) name of this set is “Colorful South” and the back cover — our scan shows it — says there are 16 cards, presumably the same as the thumbnails. If so, the focus is on rural scenes. The unopened set is sealed in such a way that we can’t easily open it, so we won’t. Try the QR code? Grade: 1
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LuGu Lake (Set of 16)
Another of these massive 5″ x 7-3/4″ sets (of 16), and the cards have short, dreamy captions in Chinese text on the front. Unused. Grade: 1
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Dali Ancient City – The Great Yunan (Set of 12)
Structures, Erhai Lake, urban and rural scenes in this eclectic mix of 12 unused cards, for which we show you the front cover. Grade: 1
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Tour Shuang Lang, romantic forever (Set of 16)
Our scan shows the cover and one of the 16 unused cards in this set. They have heavily serrated edges, and generally show ethereal local scenes, with captions on the fronts (in Chinese) of which this is typical: “The breeze caresses the lake. Wrinkled waves, Create ripples and cleanse the soul”. We somehow missed the romantic side of Shuanglang, but these postcards will lead you right to it. Grade: 1
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Yunnan women
Mailed from Macau, with Macau stamp and most of the postmark, in 2011. The full caption is only in Chinese, but if it is what we suspect it is, these persons have an interesting story behind them. Grade: 3
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Lijiang at night
A brilliant, evocative postcard, mailed in 2012 with stamp, postmark, and red bilingual Par Avion chop. Grade: 1
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Brilliantly illuminated houses
Issued b y the Postal bureau of LiJiang Prefecture, and mailed in 2013 with two stamps, postmark, and an extra anime sticker. Grade: 4
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Days 1-30 of a summer trip through Yunnan (set of 30 – front cover)
Interesting idea, to create a set of 30 cards (unused), captioned only in Chinese, except for “Day 1,” “Day 2,” and so on in sequence in English. These are sturdy, high quality, glossy cards with scenes as you can see in scan 20307543B. Grade: 1
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Dali Lijiang Shangri-La (set)
In Yunnan Province, this is a spectacularly scenic area and we assume all that would be reflected in this set of oversized (4-3/8″ x 8″) cards. We just don’t know how many cards there are, because the set is firmly sealed in Cello-wrap that we don’t want to disturb: the set deserves to remain as a set. Our best guess — no guarantees, sorry — is that there are 20 unused cards. The two photos we do see, on front and back, are wonderful. Grade: 1
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The Three Pagodas, Reflected
The Three Pagodas of the Chongsheng Temple are arranged on the corners of an equilateral triangle, near the old town of Dali in Yunnan province, dating from the time of the Kingdoms of Nanzhao and Dali in the 9th and 10th centuries. This card seems to have been mailed in 1988, with two different stamps, postmark, and an honestly inconspicuous thumbtack hole at the top. Grade: 4
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Yunnan – Lujiang Dam of Baoshan
Beginning a series of unused individual cards taken from a set, as indicated by their perforated left edges. The set promotes various areas of Yunnan Province, and has Chinese and English captions on both sides of each card, along with two QR codes urging you to look even further. This is an ambitious tourism project! As for this card, it says there’s a dam in the photo. Grade: 1
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Yunnan – Yuanmou Soil Forest of Chuxiong
Continuing a series of Yunnan cards as described in our #20307950, this one also captioned “Chuxiong, hometown of Yi, a wonderful place!” Double QR codes to tell you who Yi is, we suppose. Grade: 1
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Yunnan – Cangshan Mountains and Erhai Lake of Dali
Continuing a series of Yunnan cards as described in our #20307950, this one also captioned “Romantic Dali, livable place”. Faint praise! Please note: those are not stamps on the card. They are part of the design. Two QR codes to help you. Grade: 1
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Yunnan – Seventeen-Arch Bridge of Honghe
From a series of Yunnan cards as described in our #20307950, this one also suggesting “Terraces in Clouds, Dream like Honghe”. Two QR Codes for you. Grade: 1
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Yunnan – Kunming Gudian Yihai Wharf
Continuing a series of Yunnan cards as described in our #20307950, this one also captioned “Kunming, City of Flowers, City of Eternal Spring”. Two competing QR codes. Grade: 1
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Yunnan – Lugu Lake of Lijiang
From the Yunnan series, this unused card whose feature (the lake) is so distinctive that we will give you a condensed Wikipedia description of it: “Lugu is called the ‘mother lake’ by the Mosuo people. The lake is also well-known in Chinese travel pamphlets as the region of “Amazons,” “The Kingdom of Women” and “Home of the Matriarchal Tribe”, this last name highlighting the dominant role of the Mosuo women in their society. It is also known as “A Quaint Realm of Matriarchy.” The matriarchal and matrilineal society of the Mosuos is also termed the “Women’s World” … and this goes on, but you get the idea. QR Codes are there. Grade: 1
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Yunnan – Fugong Stone Moon of Nujiang
An unused card with perforated left edge from the Yunnan set as described earlier. Two QR Codes are available for more information about this striking province. Grade: 1
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Yunnan – Pu-er Tea Mountain and Vine Bridge
An unused card with perforated left edge from the Yunnan set as described earlier. Two QR Codes are available and two scenes here, an impressive mountain of tea and the Vine Bridge of Ximeng in Wa Autonomous County. Grade: 1
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Yunnan – Xishuangbanna Wanda Theme Park
An unused card with perforated left edge from the Yunnan set as described earlier. Two QR Codes are available and there’s plenty online about this gigantic theme park. Grade: 1
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Yunnan – Fuxian Lake of Yuxi
Fuxian Lake (抚仙湖) stretches through Chengjiang, Jiangchuan and Huaning Counties in Yunnan Province, spanning an area of 212 square kilometers. The lake is ranked third-largest in Yunnan, after Dian and Erhai Lakes. Also the deepest lake in Yunnan, it is 155 meters deep at its greatest depth and also the third-deepest fresh water lake in China, after Tianchi and Kanas Lakes. This unused card with left perforated edge comes from the Yunnan set described earlier, with two QR Codes. Grade: 1
