Lot# 9023

airmail cover sent from Chenghai, Kwangtung to Singapore, franked with 17 mixed stamps of Central and South China Liberated Areas, totaling 18,300 yuan (RMB). The cover is tied by “Tenghai 25.3.50” cds, carried by the coastal shipping route between Swatow and Hong Kong, arriving 27 March, and then forwarded by Overseas Air Transport to Singapore. This cover was mailed during the Third Postal Tariff Period under the RMB postal system (5 March - 14 July 1950), when the airmail surcharge for Asia was increased from 5,700 yuan to 7,600 yuan per 10 grams. The postage was correctly paid as follows: 3,100 yuan for the first 20 grams of international surface postage, plus 15,200 yuan for the airmail surcharge to “Asia” (7,600 yuan × 2), making a total of 18,300 yuan. A fine and accurately franked example of early PRC airmail to Southeast Asia, this cover illustrates the use of Liberated Area issues during the transitional phase of China’s unified postal and currency system. It also highlights the importance of the Swatow-Hong Kong coastal route in facilitating international mail transport during the early 1950s. With precise postage accounting and clear postal markings, this cover represents a rare and significant postal history example of early PRC airmail correspondence to Asia, of great value for both study and exhibition.