Leading Supply Of Collection, Stamps, Old Coins, Chinese Paper Cut, Collection Tools, etc.

The R.O.C. National Games has inherited the mantle of the Taiwan Provincial Games, which had been held since 1946. In 1974 the name of the provincial games was changed to the "Taiwan Area Athletic Meet." This year, at the dawn of a new century and in the 90th year of the Republic of China, the games are--for the first time ever--being held jointly by the counties of Kaohsiung and Pingtung and the City of Kaohsiung, in order to make use of the best athletic resources within the three places. The Directorate General of Posts will issue a set of two stamps entitled "The 2001 National Games Commemorative Issue" on October 18, 2001. The stamps, which will have denominations of NT$5.00 and NT$25.00, have been designed by UP Creative Design, and China Color Printing Co., Ltd. is handling the deep-etch color offset printing. The stamps combine athletics and art, displaying the power and beauty of the athletically engaged human body. They take as their themes sports at which

Taiwanese excel in international competitions, including table tennis, weight lifting and Taekwondo, as well as events especially representative of athletics, such as track and field, and swimming. Crisscrossing lines of contrasting shade in the background impart a sense of speed and suggest the image of Kaohsiung as a "city of water"; a torch is used to symbolize the Olympics; and a map of Taiwan is included to show the location of the games. The stamps also include symbols of the sponsoring local governments: a phoenix head (Kaohsiung County), ocean waves (Kaohsiung City), steep mountains (Pingtung County), and a 100 paces snake totem (symbolic of the culture of southern Taiwanese aborigines). All of the above are combined in the shape of a phoenix with wings spread, which represents the special environment and culture of the sponsoring localities. First-day covers, folders with and without crystal mounts and loose-leaf album pages will be released along with the stamps. These will go on sale October 16, 2001. Pre-cancelled FDCs with the full set of stamps or with just one lower-value stamp, as well as postage stamps pictorials, will go on sale October 18, 2001, the stamps' date of issue. For further information, please refer to the upcoming Philatelic Bulletin or Postal Service Today.