Prices of stamps depicting dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) have skyrocketed ahead of an expected increase in the number of tourists from China in July.
These stamps make popular souvenirs, shop owners said.
“I’m already out of stock, but I think the price will keep going up like crazy,” one stamp shop owner said.
PHOTO: LEE WEN-I, TAIPEI TIMES
Until recently to be found everywhere around the country, the stamps used to be worthless in the eyes of collectors — but not anymore. Prices of stamps portraying the Chiangs have risen three to five times on average, as Chinese tourists consider them good, inexpensive souvenirs.
To cater for the demand, souvenir shop owners in popular tourist destinations such as Alishan (阿里山), Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) and Dasi (大溪) are stocking up, but since stocks are running low, one shop owner said it could soon become very difficult to purchase the stamps.
A souvenir shop owner in Alishan surnamed Chien said that he was anxious to get more of the stamps before July.
PHOTO: CHEN WEN-CHENG, TAIPEI TIMES
“The older the stamps, the more popular they are,” Chien said, adding that Chiang Kai-shek stamps are more popular than those depicting Chiang Ching-kuo, while Chiang Ching-kuo stamps are more popular than former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) stamps.
A stamp released in 1978 to commemorate the third anniversary of Chiang Kai-shek’s death with a face value of NT$25 can now be sold for NT$700 to NT$900, Chien said.
Nevertheless, the price of stamps commemorating Chen’s first inauguration in 2000 has also increased from NT$20 to NT$40.
Chen Shih-ching (陳世清), operator of the Ching Ching Stamp Collection Network, attributed the rising prices to large-scale purchases by souvenir shop operators in tourist areas.
Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo stamps are the most popular because they cannot be found in China, Chen Shih-ching said.
Tsai Ta-chang (蔡大昌) of Ching-shui Stamps said that the presidential portrait stamps were issued in large numbers — between 2 million to 3 million — and thus seldom became collector’s items.
He said Chiang Kai-shek stamps issued in the 1950s and the 1960s that formerly cost NT$25 a set now sold for around NT$50 to NT$100.
But a 10-piece stamp set issued in 1952 to commemorate Chiang Kai-shek’s return to power, with a total face value of NT$20, can reportedly now be sold for as much as NT$20,000, Tsai said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by