What are the regional stamps?
As the communists gradually took over control of China after World War II various local communist governments were set up throughout the country. Philatelically the country has been divided into eight basic regions, each with their own stamps. Once the country was unified as the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the unified issues (with a few exceptions) became the only stamps valid for postage within the country. Since the regional stamps were frequently printed in a hurry as needs arose, not much consideration was given to the quality of the stamps printed. Many were very poorly printed, poorly perforated, and frequently printed on any paper they could get their hands on. The stamps were purely functional and no consideration was given to the philatelic aspects of stamp production. Once the country became unified, many of these stamp stocks were lost or destroyed. Some of the sets and/or single stamps managed to be preserved in quantity which accounts for their inexpensive retail p
