Lot# 9065

this group of three covers illustrates actual postal rates and practices for airmail to Europe during the PRC’s 8th Postal Tariff Period. Implemented on 1 January 1955, this period marked a general reduction in postal charges. The 10g airmail rate to Western Europe via Prague was reduced from 5,400 yuan to 4,800 yuan, bringing the total inclusive rate (with surface postage) to 7,000 yuan, while international airmail postcards were charged at 6,100 yuan. The examples include a 1955 Tsingtao to London cover correctly franked at 7,000 yuan, a 1956 Shanghai to Vienna postcard paying the correct 6,100-yuan rate, and a 1956 Tatung to Dessau cover overfranked by 2 fen (total 72 fen) due to the sender, a foreign resident, using multiple commemorative stamps for decorative effect. Together, these items document the tariff adjustments, route usage, and everyday postal practice of China’s 8th Postal Tariff Period, reflecting the growing regularity and sophistication of international postal exchanges in the mid-1950s.