A set of postal stamps commemorating the elevation of Taoyuan County to a special municipality has received mixed reactions from residents over what they describe as a lack of Taoyuan landmarks and the inclusion of scenic sites not located in Greater Taoyuan.
The stamp set includes two strips of five NT$3.5 stamps with such landmarks as the National Palace Museum and Taipei 101 in Taipei, Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) and Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County; Yushan (玉山), Jiufen (九份), the Taroko Gorge (太魯閣), Liushidan Mountain (六十石山) in Hualien County; Kenting (墾丁) in Pingtung County; and the Love River (愛河) in Greater Kaohsiung.
Stamp collections said the commemorative set is very similar to a “Travel in Taiwan” stamp set released by Chunghwa Post several years ago, with the only point of difference being that the commemorative set included pictures of Greater Taoyuan’s Cihu (慈湖), Yungan Fishing Port, the ancient tree on Lalashan (拉拉山) and the Laojie River (老街溪) — as well as the words “In celebration of Taoyuan City’s 2015 New Year and its Elevation to Municipality.”
Photo: Chiu Yi-tung, Taipei Times
A Greater Taoyuan resident surnamed Hsu (許) said that the limited set meant that it would not be used to send mail and would be limited to collections, but said that although it did not feature Taoyuan landmarks exclusively, it was “OK.”
A resident surnamed Lai (賴) said that the set still conveyed the celebratory nature of the municipality’s administrative elevation.
A stamp collector surnamed Wu (吳) said that if the set were released to commemorate the occasion, then it should primarily feature landmarks from the area, adding that it suffered greatly in collection value because of what Wu described as “filler content,” with the few pictures of Greater Taoyuan landmarks in the middle.
A collector surnamed Kao (高) said the customization fee set by the Chunghwa Post would come to just NT$240,000 and would be even cheaper if the municipal government headed the purchase.
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