Small collecting areas (1), Stamps of “Tchong-King”

In this column, we discuss a region that issued a number of stamps for only a short time. This time, Tchong King.

Tchong King, now called Chongqing (重庆), is a major city in China located at the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze rivers. Because the Yangtze was navigable as far as Chongqing, the city grew into an important hub.

On February 7, 1902, France opened a post office in Chong-King that was part of the French postal network in China, but administratively fell under the French postal service of Indochina . It was thus one of the so-called Indochinese post offices in China.

Initially, ordinary stamps from French Indochina were used in Tchong-King. However, stamps with the locally applied overprint TCHONG-KING soon appeared.

In 1903, stamps from French China were issued with an additional overprint TCHONG-KING. In the same year, a series of stamps from Indochina was issued with the overprint TCHONG-KING and a value indication.

In 1906, the new postage stamps of Indochina were issued with the modified overprint Tch'ong K'ing.

The next series appeared in 1908, now again with the imprint TCHONGKING.

In 1919, new currency was put into circulation, and the 1908 issues appeared with an additional overprint in the new value.

In 1903, a series of postage due stamps (Timbres-taxe) was also issued. These stamps are quite scarce, and dangerous forgeries are known.

The connection with the outside world largely took place via the Yangtze. Mail from Chong-King was transported downstream and could be forwarded to France or other destinations via other French post offices, including Hankéou and Shanghai .

The French post office remained in existence for nearly twenty-one years. As part of the closure of foreign post offices in China, the Tchong-King office finally closed on December 31, 1922. On the same date, the other foreign post offices in China also disappeared, following prolonged Chinese pressure to put an end to these foreign postal services.

113 different stamps of Thong King have been issued.

Stamps, letters, and postcards from this period tell us something about international communication in China before the disappearance of foreign post offices.

At PostBeeld, stamps from Chongking are grouped under French Indochina, click here.