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Beijing, Five Dragon Pavilions
Unused 1970s card (no smog!) from the Peking Publishing House, slightly yellowed on reverse but as-new otherwise. Grade: 1
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Bejing, Water Pavilion in Chungshan Park
Unused 1970s Peking Publishing House card, gently aged on reverse but OK otherwise. Grade: 2
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Beijing, Summer Palace
An unused 1970’s card, yellowing but undamaged. Grade: 2
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Beijing, Sunrise scene at Coal Hill (Jingshan Park)
Somewhat murky scene on this unused 70s card of Jingshan Park. Age is yellowing it a bit, and there are minor edge abrasions. Grade: 2
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Western Hills in autumn
These should be the Western Hills in Beijing and not Kunming (Yunnan) but it’s a nice autumn photo anyway, from the 70s. Unused card. Grade: 2
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Beijing, Imperial Palaces
Unused 1970s card, minor corner crunching but otherwise OK. Grade: 2
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Guangzhou, river
Card mailed from Guangzhou in 1996, with three stamps intact and postmarks legible. Superb condition. Grade: 1
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Yinchuan
Yinchuan is in north central China but the two cards we have available were mailed from Beijing: one in 1997 (three stamps are intact, with legible postmarks. Some red postal ink smudging on front, not serious. Grade: 3, $7) and one in 1991 (Seven stamps, of which two are huge, four full postmarks, red bilingual par avion chop, brilliant and extremely desireable card. Grade: 1, $29)
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Tibet, Mt. Qomolangma (Everest)
As they say, the mountains don’t move. Two of these cards from the 1970s are available, and they could as well be from the 1170s but they are unused and identify Qomolangma (many call it Mt. Everest) as the world’s highest peak. Grades: 2
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Glow of the setting sun
It’s generous to describe this as the glow of the setting sun, but that’s what the caption says. Unused 1970s card, no damage. Grade: 2
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Great Wall
Looks like a nice autumn perspective of the Wall. Unused card from 1970s, has Chinese but no English (or western) caption. Reverse is significantly aging. Grade: 3
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Guilin, overview
Guilin (Gueilin) has matured a lot since this 1970s photo. Card is unused and basically OK. Grade: 1
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Kwangchow (sic), Hall of Export Commodities Fair
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)
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Great Wall at Badaling
Aged, unused card from the 1970s before tourists–not the Mongols–overran this section of the Wall just outside Beijing. Grade: 2
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Guilin, Spring on the Lijiang River
Nice 1970s view before today’s extreme congestion. Unused card. Grade: 1
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Lhasa (Tibet), Potala Palace
1970s view of a much, much older structure that we still hope to see some day. Two of these unused Foreign Languages Press Peking postcards, aging on reverse but still a nice picture, are available. Grades: 2
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Shenzhen, Sha Tau Kok
A real oddity in so many ways–the card, the location, everything. Card was printed in China of a Hong Kong restricted border town, then mailed in Macau in 1995 to an address in Malaysia. Stamp and postmark intact. Grade: 1
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Guangzhou, Pearl River view
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).
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Brass cranes
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).
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Nanjing, Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum
This card was mailed from Chengdu in 1998, and has three stamps with two mostly legible postmarks. There’s also a red postal Par Avion rubber stamp on the reverse. Grade: 1
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Shenzhen, Xili Lake
We have a special affinity for Shenzhen, so much so that we mail Shenzhen cards from other countries. This one went from Macau in 1995, with three stamps and readable postmarks. But the card has a postal bar code sticker on the reverse, and another orange imprint on the front, and has been roughed up a bit during transmission. Grade: 4
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Shenzhen, Luohu
We have a very special fondness for Shenzhen, even if Hollywood doesn’t. This card was mailed in 1997 from Seoul, Korea (not China!) with two stamps and full postmark. There’s a bit of abrasion on the reverse. The photo is a historical artifact–Shenzhen grows by the day. Grade: 3
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Kwangchow Uprising, mausoleum of martyrs
This Foreign Languages Press card (no index number) was mailed in 1978 with s stamp and partial postmark. Grade: 1
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Kwangsi Gymnasium
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
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Kwelin, night view
Only a hint of the magnificent hills surrounding the city. But this view also would have changed significantly since the card was mailed, with two stamps and full postmark, in 1978. There’s also a red “par avion” chop on the reverse, and the card is captioned in English, Arabic, and one other Arab script, maybe Farsi? Grade: 2
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Harbin, ice festival
A beautiful card in its own right, made better by having been mailed from Harbin with three different stamps and two full postmarks in 1999. The legend says: reform and opening up, to revitalise China. Grade: 1
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Suzhou Creek
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
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Hangzhou, West Lake
This card was mailed in 1980 from Shiqi, Chang Shan, with two large and colourful stamps and a full postmark. Grade: 1
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Crag’s shadow falls in shining water
Written and mailed in roughly 1980, with a stamp and fully legible postmark, albeit entirely in Chinese. Grade: 1
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Shanghai, gymnasium
From 1980, this bright card has two large and colourful stamps and a partly legible postmark. Grade: 1
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Dawning over Huangpu River
They could say it was sunset and we would never know. This card was mailed in 1980 with two large, colourful stamps and a full postmark. Grade: 1
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Juanshikosho Kirin (Manchuria)
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
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Chinese Women riding on Wheelbarrow
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
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Dairen (Dalian), piles of bean wharf
The title is how the caption reads, but we know what they meant, and we never mind when things get lost in translation. Unused and heavily aged card, showing stack after stack after stack of–what else–beans. Grade: 2
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Mukden (Shenyang), Konishi Gate
Busy card totally reflecting daily life. Aged into sepia, unused, and a good window into the past. Grade: 2
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Port Arthur (Manchuria), monument and Russian Canet-gun
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
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Mukden (Shenyang), gate
Mukden Gate, unused card, atmospheric and detailed. Grade: 2
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Communication of China
The value in this card is neither the beauty (it’s not beautiful) nor the postal history (it’s unused) but in the magnitude of knowing how far “communication” has come since this was printed. Grade: 1