The Postal History of Yunnan/China 1900-1949

By Kurt Kimmel, RDP

Malmoe, August 22, 2009

Exhibiting Seminar

FIP Commission for Postal History

2009

Why collect Postal History of Yunnan?

◦ Yunnan was a scarcely populated area in the mountains of China, therefore, material is rare (thousands of items of Shanghai, but only a few from Yunnan)◦ Yunnan opened to foreigners rather

late (after 1900) ◦ Nothing before 1900 except two

Customs offices in Szemao and Mengtzo)◦ Different postal routes, mainly via

Indochina or Burma

2009

How did I start this collection? Rita‘s collection of Vietnam

Vietnams Postal History is connected with Yunnan:

Most of the mail from Yunnan went through Indochina or later Vietnam

French Indochina opened Post Offices in Yunnan at the same time as the Imperial Chinese ones opened (1900-1901)

Items which may belong to both collections

The Concept One of the most interesting

aspects of Yunnan are the great rivers which were the main transport ways

Yangtze to Shanghai Mekong to South Vietnam Red River to Hanoi Salween to Burma

Therefore, the logic structure is by Routes

1. Internal Mail (Rare!)

2. Foreign Mail via Yangtze River and Shanghai (Siberia)

3. Internal and Foreign Mail to, from and via Indochina

4. Foreign Mail to, from and via Burma

5. Airmail to, from and via Hongkong, Calcutta and Burma

The most important of the concept is:

That it covers the whole story That it is easy to follow and

understand That the title page is

consistent with the exhibit or the other way round that the exhibit is consistent with the title page

That each page enhances the story with a headline telling us what is shown on that page

The Treatment

The most important is the correct selection of the best possible material

Avoid duplication Avoid items which do not belong

Avoid letters sent for philatelic purposes if you can tell the story with commercially used items

Avoid duplication

Avoid items which do not belong

Avoid items which do not belong

Avoid items sent for philatelic purposes

The Presentation

The main advantage of the Postal History Class is:

The inclusion of related non-philatelic material is allowed as long as it does not overwhelm the philatelic material (no % will be fixed)

This should help to make the exhibits better, easier to understand and attractive!

The most important items and why? The earliest known

The only known

The highest franking/rate

Different route

Unusual destination

Important combination

Important Combination: Rare destination and franking

The beginning and the end: Why not mounted?