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Auction: 18008 - Sinkiang Postal History, The 'Manhattan' Collection
Lot: 2051

Sinkiang
Chinese Imperial Post
Kuchengtze
1910 (12 Mar.) opened-out, double rate envelope to Tokyo bearing C.I.P. 2c. (3) tied by fair strikes of Sinkiang/Kuchengtze datestamps with a clearer strike on the reverse and bearing transit strikes of Tihwa (7.2), Harbin, Kwanchengtze and Changchun Japanese P.O. c.d.s. (14.4) plus Honjo arrival (20.4); some soiling and with the original contents. There was a special reduced rate of 3c. for letters to Japan (until end of 1922), this mail was sent via the Trans-Siberian railway through Manchuria and Korea. Addressed in Uyghurian script and Chinese, transit time was 39 days. Believed to be the earliest commercial covers using the Chinese Post Office in Sinkiang. Photo

In 1909 the Governor of Sinkiang took the bold step to take half the funding of the I-Chan service and open a general postal service. In exchange for this all Offical mail would be delivered free of charge. On this basis, the Post Office in Tihwa opened its doors on 20th January 1910. The earliest cover recorded is dated 27th January. Initially the postal tariff was the same as that of the rest of China but this only lasted for four and a half months, the new rate of 4c. for standard letters into China was introduced on 9th May 1910

literature:
Postal History of Xinjiang; Wong and Xie, 2016 (illustrated page 65)

Sold for
HK$220,000