Speaking of New Year's greetings, I would like to thank Mr. Niu Qun, who knows philately, and the director team of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. From the issuance of the first New Year's cover in 1993 to this year, it has gone through 32 years, and the 32 New Year's covers are put together, except for a few that are not very harmonious. I came across this fresh philatelic product a few days before the Chinese New Year in 1993 and have been collecting this commemorative envelope ever since. The early New Year's cover is a two-kind zodiac stamp, which is cancelled on the same day when it is sent out this year, similar to the Spring Festival cover seen before, but this kind of New Year's cover is clearly produced and issued for the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, which is very precious.
Unknowingly, Jiachen's pace became tighter and tighter, and on the 23rd day of the month of Jiachen, the traditional day of the Chinese, the "Jiachen New Year Greeting Seal" arrived as scheduled, but the circulation was only 20,000 pieces, one layer was to stir up a thousand waves, which caused a strong reaction from many stamp collectors, and they never thought that this circulation would drop a little unprepared. In fact, there was no printing volume on the previous New Year's greeting cover, but in 2001, the ninth New Year's cover was printed for the first time, and the circulation was 600,000 pieces that year. From 2002 to 2012, the circulation was 500,000, from 2013 to 2015 it was 800,000, in 2016 it was reduced to 500,000, from 2017 to 2022 it was 300,000, and in 2023 it plummeted to 80,000. I don't know why this comical operation.
It cannot be denied that the number of people participating in philately collecting is not as good as before, but it is not that there are only tens of thousands of people left. What's more, the habit of using New Year's greetings to express blessings to friends is cultivated over the years, and even people who do not collect stamps will buy a few when the New Year's envelopes are issued and send them to friends from afar. In recent years, every time I enter the wax moon, there will always be friends around me who call me and ask me when the New Year's greeting will come. In fact, these people are not stamp collectors, but they are the result of habits that have been cultivated over many years. At least before this year, these people will buy a few to a dozen New Year's greetings every year, and they have recommended other ways before, who knows that these people will recognize the New Year's greeting covers. This year has been a disappointment, and perhaps the only bit of philatelic interest will be lost since then.
After last year's New Year's cover was issued, I didn't see it on the 23rd day of the lunar month, and then I sent some to my friends on the day of the Spring Festival, and I also ran to two post offices. Because I sent a lot of mail, I was afraid of causing unnecessary misunderstandings, so I went to two more post offices. It seems that this year we will also save the need to run the post office. But fortunately, on the twenty-third day of the lunar month, I received a New Year's greeting envelope sent to me by Mr. Hu Wei from Luoyang on the first day, which can relieve my anxiety. This New Year's greeting cover was sent from the Luoyang Union Road Post Office on February 2 and received on February 5. Judging from the number of the New Year's greeting cover, it is also the smallest number I have seen. From this year's circulation of only 20,000 pieces, can it be speculated that the CCTV Spring Festival Gala no longer uses the "New Year's Greeting Envelope"?
If that is the case, it is time for the New Year's cover to come to an end. Don't forget that the commemorative cover of this series was born because of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, without the blessing of the Spring Festival Gala, this New Year's cover would have lost its meaning of existence. Over the past 32 years, no matter how the couplets on the New Year's greeting cover have changed, "New Year's greetings to you" is the eternal horizontal drape on the New Year's greeting cover. This "New Year's greeting" is based on the Spring Festival Gala, and for many years, it has been used as one of the symbols of participating in the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, which is very proud. Because the New Year's greeting cover numbered "PFBN-1" was issued on the 30th of the Chinese New Year's Eve, it was truly synchronized with the Spring Festival Gala.
Speaking of New Year's greetings, I also want to mention Liu Dun and Zhang Shiyong (that is, Mr. Zhang Shiqi), by chance, I met Mr. Zhang Shiqi, the designer of the early New Year's greeting envelope, and became good friends. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the New Year's greeting cover, Mr. Liu Dun, Mr. Zhang Shiqi, and Mr. Ren Yongxin, then the manager of the China Philatelic Corporation, recalled the anecdotes of the 30 years of the New Year's greeting cover, which was published in the People's Weekly of the People's Daily. During the Spring Festival last year, he also exchanged greetings with Mr. Zhang Shiqi, and never thought that Mr. Zhang would pass away due to illness in September, and deeply regretted it.
Receiving "Jiachen New Year's Greeting Cover" has a feeling, and the drama fills in Xijiang Yue. Since 1993, every 23rd day of the lunar month, I will always buy some, one to send to friends, and the other to keep a few. From last year, there was a sudden big competition, and now it is a cliff-like release. It looks like the series will be out of my sight as well.
千般期万般盼,
Helplessly looked through his eyes.
Before the Luoyi Jia Fengfei case,
Sweep away the worries of your heart.
Looking at this envelope is not ordinary,
The yield is only 20,000.
New Year's greetings were sealed for the second year,
Jiachen left a broken thought.
