Lot# 9019

airmail cover sent from Chengtu to New York, franked with six Southwest China Liberated Area surcharge stamps, totaling 15,800 yuan (RMB), tied by “Chengtu 2.5.50” cds. The cover was routed via Canton on 14 May 1950, then forwarded through Hong Kong, and is believed to have been conveyed by Pan American Airways (PAA) on its FAM 14 trans-Pacific route to the United States. This cover was mailed during the 3rd Postal Tariff Period (5 March 1950 - 14 July 1950), when postal rates had just been revised under the unified RMB system. The total franking of 15,800 yuan exactly matches the official rate for international airmail to non-Asian destinations, consisting of 3,100 yuan for the first 20 grams of international surface letter postage and an airmail surcharge of 12,700 yuan per 10 grams to “Other Countries.” At the time, the postal administration had adjusted the air surcharge for non-Asian destinations from 9,500 yuan to 12,700 yuan, while increasing the international surface rate from 2,300 yuan to 3,100 yuan. This revision reflected the gradual normalization of China’s postal system following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China and the stabilization of the Renminbi. Originating from Chengtu in the Southwest Liberated Area, this cover illustrates the full integration of the regional postal network into the national framework shortly after unification. It also demonstrates the practical functioning of early PRC international airmail routes that connected inland China with the United States via Hong Kong and the PAA’s trans-Pacific service. A rare and historically important early PRC airmail cover, correctly rated and efficiently routed, exemplifying the transition from regional postal administrations to the national postal system and the restoration of regular international airmail communication in the early 1950s.