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Tatala, Lanyu, Taitung
“… here comes the Flying Fish Festival silencely”. That’s half the caption. It’s a lovely unused card and we offer our services for proofreading in the future, if asked. Grade: 1
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Taipei, night view
Thanks partly to our friend Lin-Lee, and partly to the islands’ rapid development, we have become quite fond of Taiwan. Unused card. Grade: 1
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Taipei, New Year’s Eve Fireworks
Off Taipei 101 by tradition, spectacular in real life, on TV, and on this unused postcard. Grade: 1
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Taipei, New Year’s Eve Fireworks over the city
Now really: how is this for colour and action? One of our finest examples of a fireworks postcard. Unused. Grade: 1
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Taipei, “when the night veil comes down”
Superb night view of Taipei 101 and the city on this unused card. Grade: 1
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Taipei, “The twilight shines down …”
We think they may have waited a long time to get such a clear and brilliant shot for this unused card. Grade: 1
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Taipei, Presidential Office Building
This card measures 7-3/8″ x 4-1/8″ and was mailed from Germany (not Taiwan!) with some minor postal bumping along the way. The German stamp and postmark are there. Grade: 3
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Ancient Chinese Paintings … Syzygy of the Sun … (set of 6) (Maximum Cards)
First, you might compare this with our entry 20325409, which was in effect Part One of this series from 2020. This latest version was issued on 19 May 2021, and bears the exact title: “Maximum Cards of Ancient Chinese Paintings Postage Stamps: ‘Syzygy of the Sun, Moon, and the Five Planets’ by Xu Yang, Qing Dynasty (II)”. Our scan shows the cardboard cover and two of the six cards in the set. Grade: 1
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Maximum Cards of Taiwan Relics (set of four)
Issued on 17th June 2021 by Chunghwa Post Co., this is a set of four conventional maximum cards of which our scan shows two plus the cardboard cover. It’s called, altogether, “Maximum Cards of Taiwan Relics Postage Stamps (Issue of 2021)” and also has the explanation that this is the “Pre-cancelled, Chinese Version”. Since half of all this is in English, we won’t ask why or how this is a “Chinese Version” but it helps to know that Taiwan postal outlets sometimes create maximum cards for customers on the spot — and with varying dates — depending on demand. Grade: 1
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Train
Extensive Chinese-language captions on the back of this B&W card will tell you more about the photo, but we can tell you the card was mailed in 2021 with stamp and extraordinarily large and clear special cancellation. Grade: 1
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Maximum Cards of Jade Articles (Continued III) (set of 4)
To explain our scan: the cardboard cover for this set of four maximum cards issued on 12 January 2022 starts with the purple section of the scan’s lower right corner. Other space is taken up with three of the four cards. The set was issued by Chunghwa Post Co. and the cards have Chinese and English captions. The full title on the cover is “Maximum Cards of Jade Articles from the National Palace Museum Postage Stamps (Continued III)” so you can also source out I and II. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Lantern Festival (Warehouse)
Kaohsiung has a periodic lantern festival and this card is one of a few showing a key exhibit. Unused. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Lantern Festival (Foster+Partners)
Kaohsiung has a periodic lantern festival and this card is one of a few showing a key exhibit, with Foster+Partners being identified in the otherwise-Chinese caption. Unused. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Lantern Festival (Sunset)
Kaohsiung has a periodic lantern festival and this card is one of a few showing a key element. The caption is entirely in Chinese. Unused. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Lantern Festival (Shoreline)
Kaohsiung has a periodic lantern festival and this card is one of a few showing a key element, the lighting. The caption is entirely in Chinese. Unused. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Lantern Festival (Tapscott)
Kaohsiung has a periodic lantern festival and this card is one of a few showing a key element, an impressive display by James Tapscott, self-described in Facebook as an Australian land and light artist. The caption is entirely in Chinese. Unused. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Lantern Festival (Pavavalung)
Kaohsiung has a periodic lantern festival and this card is one of a few showing a key element, created by Etan Pavavalung, a Taiwanese aboriginal of Paiwan ethnicity, whose artistic creations are described by one web source as “diverse as he works with cloth, poetry, prose, …” The caption is entirely in Chinese. Unused. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Lantern Festival (Official)
Call this a postcard, or not. You would be correct either way. It was issued by the Kaohsiung Post Office and is blank on the reverse. The front has a clear Cellowrap sleeve holding two separate slips of embossed foil, those silver and gold rectangles. They can be removed from the sleeve, and can (and should) line up straight, but we have left them askew to call attention to them. Anyway, if you want more detail, just ask us. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Lantern Festival (2022 Official)
Unused card issued by the Kaohsiung Post Office in 2022, straight lines on three sides and wavy on the top. Chinese captioning front and back. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, City Sunsets
Unused card. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Sunset in the City
Brilliant unused card. Grade: 1
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Sanxiantai, Taitung
“Each day, the golden dawn brings boundless hope to the east coast”. Very Taiwanese! Unused card. Grade: 1
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Taipei, Songshan Airport
Songshan Airport (TSA) is a regional airport and military airbase, covering 182 hectares. The civilian section has scheduled flights to domestic destinations in Taiwan and regional international destinations but serves only a small portion of the international flights for Taipei compared to the larger Taoyuan International Airport. Songshan is also the base of certain Republic of China Air Force units. Unused card. Grade: 1
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Taipei, Sunset
Taipei postcards do seem to favour sunsets, which is fine since the city — unlike years past — comes alive after dark. The caption reflects (no pun intended) Taiwanese spirit well: “Dusk taps us gently on our shoulders, comforting us after a long tiring day at work”. We say: find a new job. Unused card. Grade: 1
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Taipei city night
A generally inaccurate caption on an otherwise high-quality, unused card. Grade: 1
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Chihshang, Taitung
The rice fields become “gently swaying rows of dancers in golden costumes” on this unused card. Grade: 1
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Duoliang Station, Taitung
The unused card calls this the “loveliest station in Taiwan” and while we’ve not seen them all, this is definitely a contender. Grade: 1
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Luye Highlands, Taitung
Unused postcard. Grade: 1
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Taipei, Yangmingshan
The unused card focuses on this floral clock, but Yangmingshan is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan, located in both Taipei and New Taipei City. It’s known for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, sulfur deposits, fumaroles, venomous snakes, and hiking trails, including Taiwan’s tallest dormant volcano, Qixing (Seven Star) Mountain. Maybe there are cards of those too. Grade: 1
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Hualien, Pine Garden (set of 7)
The Pine Garden (traditional Chinese: 松園別館; simplified Chinese: 松园别馆) is a former Japanese military office. Built in 1943 during Japanese rule as a military office, after the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945 the facility was used as a vacation resort for the United States Armed Forces. In 2000, the Hualien County Government designated the area as a historical building. The government renovated it into a cultural center and the Council for Cultural Affairs opened it as a tourist attraction in 2001. Our scan shows the reverse cardboard cover (and thumbnail images) of the seven unused 4-1/8″ x 9-5/8″ cards in the set. Grade: 1
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Hualien, indigenous cultural icons (set of 4)
Four unused cards that will keep you busy identifying and translating for quite awhile. Grade: 1
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Hualien, locations (set of 4)
Four more unused cards that will keep you busy identifying and translating for quite awhile. We really admire persons who can design cards like this. Grade: 1
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Hualien Cat Village, houses
Unused card. Grade: 1
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Hualien Cat Village, out and about
Unused card. Grade: 1
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Hualien Cat Village, drinking tea
Another Hualien Cat Village postcard — the place has an interesting story, too long to recount here. But you really, really need to like cats. Grade: 1
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Jiufen (set of 9) – front cover
We’re assuming there are nine cards in this set but we have left the brown paper cover sealed in its original condition. Why nine? Because Jiufen means “Nine portions” and because our scan 20325458B shows nine thumbnails. But no guarantees! The scenes represent 1984-1988, apparently. Grade: 1
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Jiufen (set of 9) – back cover
See our description for 20325458A. By the way, Jiufen may also be spelled Chiufen.
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Chiufen (set of 6)
Six unused 4-3/8″ x 7″ cards, undisturbed in their original packing apart from someone’s removal of the original price sticker. The scan shows one card, and none have detailed captions (Chiufen in Roman and Chinese, though), but the other cards are similar and generally show crowded town views, mostly at night or sunset. Grade: 1
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Kinmen, three guardian lions
Starting a series of unusual cards from this unusual place, we’ll do the grand description here and let the other cards speak for themselves. Kinmen, also spelled Quemoy or Kinmoi, is a group of islands governed as a county by Taiwan, off the southeastern coast of mainland China, roughly 10 km east of Xiamen in Fujian. Kinmen is 187 km west from the main island of Taiwan. The county consists of Kinmen along with several surrounding islets, as well as Wuqiu Township located 133 km (83 mi) to the northeast of the rest of the county. Kinmen’s strategic location in the Taiwan Strait has led to numerous confrontations … in August 1958, Kinmen was heavily bombarded by the People’s Liberation Army during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. Travel restrictions between Kinmen and the main island of Taiwan were lifted in 1994 following the end of decades-long military administration over Kinmen, and a direct ferry route to Xiamen was inaugurated in January 2001 following the establishment of the Three Links. The People’s Republic of China (PRC, China) claims Kinmen as part of Fujian Province and considers Wuqiu to be a separate territory of Fujian apart from Kinmen itself; conversely, the ROC claims the Dadeng Islands (Tateng) as part of Kinmen, even though they were effectively transferred to the control of Xiamen by the PRC. And these guardian lions? Traditional and ubiquitous. Two of these unused cards are available. Grades: 1