This site is a personal record, created to preserve and share the beautiful commemorative stamps my family and I came across during our travels. The significance of these stamps is in their marking of a time-space intersection — if we hadn’t been at that place at that exact moment, we might encounter different stamps, or none at all. For this reason, to us, each stamp is unique.
What makes commemorative stamps interesting is that they capture the essence of a place, an exhibition, or an event with only a few square centimeters of space. Elaborate or multi-coloured designs are not essential — a single-color stamp can be strikingly beautiful.
We’re not hardcore stamp collectors; when we come across regional stamp rallies, we don’t let the goal of “completing the set” distract us from our original travel plans. For us, collecting stamps is simply a delightful bonus along the journey. If we later discover that a stamp was part of a larger event, we often don’t chase after the rest, but simply make a note of it for the record. As The Journey to the West says: “The universe is imperfect”—let alone the boundless world of stamp collecting. What matters most is enjoying the journey and letting things happen naturally.
Needless to say, this site is purely for our own amusement—a space where we organize the stamps we’ve collected. It helps us keep track of them in a more systematic way (databases are great!), and enables us to share them with fellow enthusiasts. We believe the joy of discovering a beautifully designed stamp is a feeling shared among kindred spirits. And, if someone happens to find the same or an updated version of a stamp based on what they saw here, that'd be a bonus added meaning to the existence of this little site.
-- Chen
What makes commemorative stamps interesting is that they capture the essence of a place, an exhibition, or an event with only a few square centimeters of space. Elaborate or multi-coloured designs are not essential — a single-color stamp can be strikingly beautiful.
We’re not hardcore stamp collectors; when we come across regional stamp rallies, we don’t let the goal of “completing the set” distract us from our original travel plans. For us, collecting stamps is simply a delightful bonus along the journey. If we later discover that a stamp was part of a larger event, we often don’t chase after the rest, but simply make a note of it for the record. As The Journey to the West says: “The universe is imperfect”—let alone the boundless world of stamp collecting. What matters most is enjoying the journey and letting things happen naturally.
Needless to say, this site is purely for our own amusement—a space where we organize the stamps we’ve collected. It helps us keep track of them in a more systematic way (databases are great!), and enables us to share them with fellow enthusiasts. We believe the joy of discovering a beautifully designed stamp is a feeling shared among kindred spirits. And, if someone happens to find the same or an updated version of a stamp based on what they saw here, that'd be a bonus added meaning to the existence of this little site.
-- Chen