1997 Hong Kong Returns to China, 2 First Day Covers

Hong Kong's Historic 1997 Return to China Commemorated on Oversize Fleetwood Covers - Was $30.  Now $12.95.

Features final stamp issued by British Hong Kong, very first Hong Kong stamps issued under China’s control, and the first China stamps issued to commemorate the return of Hong Kong. 

In 1997 Fleetwood commissioned two covers to ...  more

Hong Kong's Historic 1997 Return to China Commemorated on Oversize Fleetwood Covers - Was $30.  Now $12.95.

Features final stamp issued by British Hong Kong, very first Hong Kong stamps issued under China’s control, and the first China stamps issued to commemorate the return of Hong Kong. 

In 1997 Fleetwood commissioned two covers to mark June 30 and July 1, 1997.  The British Hong Kong cover is postmarked June 30, 1997, the very last day the British controlled the island.  The souvenir sheet shows a classic Royal Mail postbox and images of some of Hong Kong’s stamps issued between 1862 and 1997.  This souvenir sheet is Scott #792.

The second cover is postmarked July 1, 1997, the first day of China’s control.  And the Chinese issued their own stamps for Hong Kong.  The set of 5 stamps is Scott #793-98.  July 1, 1997, China issued a set of three stamps marking the return of Hong Kong, including a miniature sheet with a portrait of Deng Xiaoping.  People’s Republic of China Scott #2774A-C.

In 1862, Britain issued the first stamps for its free port of Hong Kong.  In 1898, Britain and China signed a 99-year lease at the Second Convention of Peking.  Britain leased Hong Kong and 200 small surrounding islands for 99 years. 

Ninety-nine years later the lease expired and Hong Kong became part of China once more.

July 1, 2017, marks the 20-year anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China, and there's no better way to capture the importance of this event than with these stunning covers.