Giant Pandas - Hong Kong

Here comes Micky - er, not quite

In the past I've written a lot about my personal experiences with stamp collecting. However, I haven't really shown any covers that other collectors have sent me. So, in order not to waste the beauties of these covers and to express my heartfelt thanks to these collectors, I'll put online the images of the covers I've received randomly.


This I've received from Mr. L who's a collector of music, dance and ballet. Thank you. What is special about this cover? It's the 2 Frama labels on the left side from Hong Kong! Mr. L must have bought them 12 years ago? :o No? Because the Frama label depicted a mouse with a green background that says "The year of Rat."

HK-Butterfly FDC by Registered mail

According to the HK Leisure and Cultural Services website, there are about 16 000 recorded species of butterflies in the world. Among them, 1 300 species can be found in China and 235 species in Hong Kong. 

In urban parks of Hong Kong, a total of 48 species of butterflies can be found. They are Skippers (Family Hesperiidae), Swallowtails (Family Papilionidae), Whites and Yellows (Family Pieridae), Blues (Family Lycaenidae), Nymphs (Family Nymphalidae) and Browns (Family Satyridae).

What really triggered my interest in covers is this beautiful registered butterfly FDC from Hong Kong. The water color? Art work on the left side of the cover is just fantastic. Sorry image is not good enough to reflect the true beauty of the cover. 

I rarely see FDCs mailed by register mail nowadays. I would love to send my covers by register mail if not for the maddening $7.90 fee of USPS.

 

HK-Chan Clan School and Ancestral Home

Not a while ago, a stamp collector to me was strictly someone who collects only stamps.
I myself did not collect anything except stamps until recently. With the exponential growth of the internet community, I was given the opportunity to see what others are collecting and what they are doing with their collections. This opens many doors for me to decide what to do with my collecting interests.

About a year ago, I came across a forum about stamps. A collector from HK was willing to send covers to collectors who are interested on the first day of new issuance for a minimal fee to cover material and postage. I gave it a try and received some amazing covers from him. This is an official first day cover sent to me by register mail. The s/s depicts school and ancestral home built for and by the Chan clans in Canton, China.

The building was built in the 1800s and is renowned for its exquisite and lively stone carvings, woodcarvings, colorful Shi Wan pottery figurines, statues and iron plate paintings. I will sure visit the place one day.