French post in China

The first French post office in China was opened in 1862 in Shanghai ^[1] . Initially, the French authorities used ordinary French postage stamps in these post offices. To understand that these so-called " predecessor stamps " were sold or used in China, it is possible only by the imprint of a postmark. Thus, postage stamps redeemed in Shanghai before 1876 can only be identified by the impression of a diamond-shaped "5104 " in the center of the stamp. A numbered stamp “4013” ^{[1] was also used} .

Unlike other foreign post offices in China, the French in China had two different types of post offices. Offices of the first type, usually located in French concession areas and mainly in the north of China, were directly managed by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The offices of the second type, also known as “Indochinese branches”, were located in southern China and worked under the administration of the postal administration of the nearby colony of French Indochina ^[2] .

Run by France

The post offices in China administered by Paris and their opening dates ^[3] :

1862

• Shanghai (the inscription "Shang-haï" in French on the French stamp of this period)

1889

• Tianjin ("Tien-tsin")

1898

• Hankou ("Han-kéou")
• Chifu ("Tché-fou")

1900

• Arsenal Pagoda
• Beijing ("Pékin")
• Fuzhou ("Fou-Tchéou")
• Ningbo ("Ning-po")

1902

• Amoy ("Amoy")

For the above-mentioned post offices, since 1894, the French government issued postage stamps from the with an overprint of the word Fr. “CHINE” (“China”). Issues of postage stamps of the 20th century initially included overprints made on some postage stamps issued for use in French Indochina, and continued with postage stamps specially printed for use in China. Some of the first postage stamps of the 20th century were issued only in denominations in French francs, but in all subsequent issues overprints of the equivalent of denominations in Chinese currency were made in French and Chinese.

• Mushon type stamps with overprinted denominations in French and Chinese
•  

  3 cents / 3 fynya

•  

  4 cents / 4 fynya ( Shanghai , 1907)

In addition to the usual postage stamps, France also produced solid and premium- grade items for use in the post offices in China that were operated by Paris.

Run by French Indochina

The post offices operated by French Indochina differed from other French post offices in China in a number of areas. Initially, the general issues of the French post offices in China circa 1902-1904 were in circulation in Paris, and they can be established on the basis of postmark impressions used by the Indo-Chinese offices. But soon after this, stamps were printed with imprints specific to the post office that issued them. For example, the post office in Canton issued overprinted postage stamps not “CHINE” (“China”), but “CANTON” (“Canton”). Such overprints (indicated here in brackets in the same writing as on postage stamps, together with the opening date of the respective post office) were made for seven such Indochinese post offices ^[2] :

1900

• Haikou (Hoi Hao)
• Guangzhou (Kouang Tchéou Wan)
• Yunnan Fou

1901

• Canton

1902

• Beihai (Pakhoi) ^[≡]

1903

• (Mongtseu)
• Chongqing (Tchongking)

Another difference between the Indochinese branches and other French post offices in China was that their issues were all overprints on the postage stamps of French Indochina that were in circulation at that time, and not on the postage stamps of France. In the post offices administered by Paris, they did not accept postal items franked by French Indochina postage stamps without overprints, but it is known that Indochinese post offices did so. For this reason, sometimes there are postage stamps of French Indochina, legally redeemed by the postmarks of one of the post offices in China. Similarly, postage stamps from Indochinese post offices in China can be found with stamps from Indochina itself, although they were most likely applied in Hanoi or in other localities through which the postal consignment had to pass (i.e., in fact, packet stamps).

The Indo-Chinese offices of France also sometimes opened post offices in the territory they serve. For example, the post office in Canton eventually opened six branches within the service area. The specific branch where the Cantonese postage stamp was redeemed can sometimes be identified by a postmark. The first post stamps of Canton contain the text “Canton / Chine” (“Canton / China”), while the later stamps indicate the letter A to F, indicating exactly which branch of the Canton post office they used ^[2] .

A total of 100 postage stamps and 27 additional stamps were issued ^[4] .

All foreign post offices in China were finally closed on December 31, 1922 ^{[1] [5]} , unless, of course, some of them were closed earlier.

The only notable exception was post offices in Guangzhou ( Fr. "Kouang Tchéou Wan" ; Eng. "Kwangchowan" ), which was a territory leased to France under a contract for a period of 99 years from 1898. It was an agreement, essentially a similar agreement on the Hong Kong "new territories" from 1898 to 1997 ^[6] .

Because of its leased territory status after 1922, Kouang Tchéou was the only French post office in China that issued airmail and postal stamps, although most were issued by the French Vichy government. Due to wartime conditions and the fact that the colonial authorities in Guangzhou did not recognize the Vichy government, the Vichy regime issued stamps for Guangzhou were never in circulation ^[6] .

The French Post worked in Guangzhou until 1943, when this colony was occupied by Japanese troops. Although France renewed its sovereignty over the colony for several months at the end of World War II, this territory was returned to China in early 1946 ^[6] .

• French Mail in China // Big Philatelic Dictionary / N. I. Vladinets, L. I. Illychev, I. Ya. Levitas ... [ and others ] ; under total ed. N. I. Vladintsa and V. A. Jacobs. - M .: Radio and communication, 1988. - S. 284. - 40 000 copies. - ISBN 5-256-00175-2 .
• China // Philatelic Geography (Foreign Countries): A Handbook / L. L. Lepeshinsky. - M .: Communication, 1967. - p. 162. - 480 p.
• Rossiter S. , Fowler J. The Stamp of Atlas: A Unique Assembly of Geography, Social and Political History, and Postal Information. - 1st edn. - L. , Sydney: Macdonald, 1986. - 336 p. - ISBN 0-356-10862-7 . (eng.)
• Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogs
• Yvert et Tellier : various directories

• China (French Post Offices) (English) . A — Z of postal authorities. Encyclopaedia of Postal History . Stampsite: The Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities. - Information about the stamps of French mail in China in the database "Encyclopedia of the history of mail. Encyclopedia of postal departments. The appeal date is March 12, 2010. Archived December 1, 2008.
• Grabowski EJJ : Understanding the French Colonial Allegorical Group Type & Indochina Military Mail Between 1893-1905 (Eng.) . Publications . L .: The Royal Philatelic Society of London (January 2007). The date of circulation is February 21, 2016. Archived September 18, 2010.
• AskPhil - Glossary of Stamp Collecting Terms