Stamp collectors and enthusiasts are visiting the World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention held in this capital city of Jiangsu Province.

The 2001 All-China Philatelic Exhibition, which ends tomorrow, is being held at the International Exhibition Center.

Hosted by the State Postal Bureau of China and the Jiangsu provincial government, the exhibition is the largest of its kind in China.

This year's exhibition is being staged by the All-China Philatelic Federation and Jiangsu Provincial Postal Bureau. Yu Guangzhou, vice-governor of Jiangsu, serves as director of the organization committee.

The exhibition features 1,213 precious stamps.

Among the thousands of stamps on show, the most valuable may be the "Gao square," which consists of four stamps with the Chinese character gao, meaning manuscript, on each of them.

The priceless square, which is the only one of its kind in the world, is today in the possession of Shen Cenghua, an established philatelist.

The Gao stamp, issued in 1943 by the Huainan Liberated Area of China, was for journalists to forward their articles to a newspaper circulated in the area. It was printed on the back of used paper.

According to Shen, his square was sent by Zhou Shimin, a farmer in the Huainan Liberated Area in 1943.

Also featured at the exhibition is the famous Lanjunyou Pair (Blue Militant Stamp Pair), which is in the collection of philatelist Li Shuguang.

The Blue Militant Stamps were issued by the Telecommunications Department of the People's Liberation Army and the State Postal Bureau on August 1, 1953, but were largely recalled and destroyed since some military secrets were exposed on these stamps.

A single Blue Militant Stamp was sold for 800,000 yuan (US$97,000) at an auction in the 1990s.

Altogether 902 of the stamps on show will be auctioned today, including the Dangyiyuan stamp, which, issued in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), was auctioned at 2.1 million yuan (US$250,000) in the 1990s.

Additional events featuring coins and telephone cards, the stamp printing process and the history of mobile communications are also staged during the event.

(China Daily 09/24/2001)