China’s stamp lovers got a double treat this week.
The newest release from the country’s post office includes a nod to the historic end of the country’s one-child policy while celebrating the upcoming Lunar New Year.
One of the new stamps features a smiling, cartoon monkey being kissed by not one, but two baby monkeys. The Year of the Monkey is set to begin on February 8.
College teacher Liu Miao arrived at a Beijing post office before it opened on Wednesday morning to get the new stamps.
“I think this year’s stamp is really special,” she said. Liu was told the post office had temporarily sold out and had to wait an hour for her set.
A post office employee told CNN that many people are lining up for the stamps across Beijing.
China Post commissioned renowned Chinese artist Huang Yongyu to design the commemorative stamp. They originally asked for a female monkey holding a baby, according to Beijing’s Legal Evening News. Huang, reportedly, insisted on drawing two.
“Now that China has launched the two-child policy recently, it should be fine to draw two baby monkeys,” the 92-year-old artist told the Legal Evening News.
Two child policy
All Chinese couples are allowed to have two children as of January 1, as the country formally ends its three-decade-long one-child policy.
On Tuesday, the government also announced it would stop requiring couples to apply for official approval before having a first or second child, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Huang, the elderly stamp designer, also designed the first ever set of animal Zodiac stamps, released in 1980. Those stamps, nicknamed the”red monkey” have grown in value 200,000 fold the past 30 years, according to China Daily.
This year’s stamps have a face value of 1.20 yuan (about 18 US cents). Buyers are optimistic they too will prove to be a good investment.
Du Yu purchased eight sets of stamps for her nephews and nieces as gifts for the upcoming Lunar New Year. She’s hopes they’ll grow in value, just as Chinese families will grow in size.