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Modern Express News (Reporter Wang FeiWen/Photo) Once upon a time, cars, horses, and mail were slow. In the Internet age, the traditional way of communication such as letters is increasingly being "shelved", and with the change brought about, philatelic enthusiasts have gradually become a niche group.
What is the current state of the philatelic industry today? What is the future? In the past few days, the reporter interviewed representatives of the elderly, middle-aged and young philatelic enthusiasts and the relevant responsible persons of the philatelic industry to understand the industry trends and hope to find the answer.
After the 50s of the Golden Age: I hope that the collection of a lifetime will be in the hands of those who understand
"The 1980 monkey stamp is the first zodiac special stamp issued by our country, I had the opportunity to get it, but I missed it..." On August 18, a Modern Express reporter came to the home of Lu Xingyi, a philatelic enthusiast, and he took out the stamps and envelopes he had treasured for many years and recalled his philatelic years while displaying them.
Born in 1954, Lu Xingyi fell in love with philately under the influence of his father.
In 1970, Lu Xingyi went to work in the factory, with a salary of 13 yuan a month, "once the living expenses were deducted, there was a piece of money left, which was used to buy stamps." ”
Later, Lu Xingyi did after-sales service, had the opportunity to receive letters from users across the country, saw good-looking stamps, commemorative postage envelopes, and would collect them. "Sometimes other people in the unit receive letters and see that the stamps on the envelopes are strange and beautiful, and they will negotiate with others to ask for stamps."
"At that time, there was a philatelic association in the group, and the post office would have people to do exhibitions and sales, but most of the time, we bought them at the post office ourselves, and we would also book stamps." Lu Xingyi loves to read, and especially loves famous works such as "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "The Tale of the West Chamber". "I remember buying stamps of the Dream of the Red Chamber twelve gold noodles before, and I collected them one by one, some bought a few cents, and some a dime."
In 2003, the enterprise was restructured, lu Xingyi's income decreased, "just at that time the stamp market was sluggish, some stamps fell below the par value, so my philatelic collection slowly decreased." ”
Although there is less stamp collecting, this year is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, lu Xingyi still bought a set of red mail treasures.
"Children don't like stamp collecting, and it's no wonder that she, a person of the times, a living method, what they like, there is no need for them to like it together." Lu Xingyi has a daughter, 38 years old, who saw that her father had beautiful stamps and took them home, but she was not interested in stamp collecting. Now Lu Xingyi put stamps on an online platform to sell, so he met a group of people who love stamp collecting.
"Some of them are young people, and they really like stamps, there are a few familiar ones, I often sell half and give away, the price does not matter, mainly hope that the beloved stamps collected for a lifetime can reach the hands of people who understand stamps and love stamps." Although Lu Xingyi lamented the shrinkage of the philatelic industry, he was still optimistic about the philatelic industry and felt that there would be a successor.
Post-80s: Stamp collectors are getting older, but there are always people who are getting younger
"Mr. Lu and I met at the post office." Once, Lu Xingyi went to the post office to send a registered letter to the postmen who bought stamps, and just happened to meet Yan Ming, who also loved stamp collecting, and the two philatelic fans naturally chatted.
Compared with the older generation of philatelic fans such as Lu Xingyi, Yan Ming, born in 1981, not only collects traditional stamps and envelopes, but also loves to collect hand-painted envelopes, post color coupons, extreme postcards, etc. And since 1996, I have been collecting stamps for 25 years, and I have never stopped.
"When I was in school, I followed my father and collected stamps, comic strips, old food stamps, etc. intermittently. Later, a friend gave a stamp for the first anniversary of Chairman Mao's death, which was a treasure at that time. Since then, we have embarked on the road of philately. Yan Ming told reporters.
In 2002, when Lu Xingyi was about to reduce philately, Yan Ming was about to usher in a climax of philately. At that time, he had just arrived at the Yancheng Bus Company as a repairman and could rely on himself. In my spare time, through stamp collecting, I met a group of like-minded friends, including people from all walks of life such as the New Fourth Army Memorial Hall and the Yancheng Traffic Bureau, as well as postal friends from Hong Kong, Macao and other places.
"Although I go to few places, I send letters almost all over the country." Yan Ming's words are full of regret, before the peak will send stamps and postcards to more than 100 friends at a time, and now up to 30 friends have been sent, many old people for various reasons, have not "played", the times have changed.
Times are really different. In the past, in order to understand the cultural background of the philatelic industry, Yan Ming ordered China Philatelic Newspaper and Philatelic Magazine, and bought stamp reference books such as "China Philatelic Tourism Atlas" and "Hand-painted Art Actual Mailing Collection". Now that the Internet is more and more developed, he does not need paper media to find out what he wants to know on the Internet.
In recent years, Yan Ming has also joined some WeChat groups about philately and hand-drawn envelopes. Everyone has information such as stamp distribution or hand-drawn envelopes, and they will share with each other in the group. "I know that the youngest philatelic enthusiast in the group is a high school student, he used to spend a lot of money to buy several sets of old stamps, this year is about to enter the third year of high school, stamps 'play' less." 」
Yan Ming does not smoke or drink, and his main hobby is collecting. In his view, philately not only enriched his life, allowed him to meet many friends, but also greatly broadened his horizons and knowledge. However, Yan Ming's 14-year-old son is not interested in stamp collecting, and prefers to play mobile phone games, "I don't expect him to like stamp collecting." ”
For the future of the philatelic industry, Yan Ming, like Lu Xingyi, is still optimistic, "First of all, I will always stick to it myself, although there are fewer and fewer collectors, but I believe that stamp collectors are getting older, but there are always people who are young!" ”
Post-95: Enjoy "Distance" and "Waiting" in a fast pace
Lu Anne, 22, a native of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, is also a student at Wuhan Qingchuan College.
"I've been collecting stamps since elementary school." Lu Anne told reporters that her father used to be in the army, often sent home letters back, every time he saw the stamps on the envelopes, small, patterned like paintings, I felt beautiful and interesting.
When Lu anne was in the fifth grade, her father took her to the painting and calligraphy market to buy stamps, and she remembered this place. Later, she often sneaked in and spent twenty or thirty dollars at a time to buy some stamps that she thought looked good. "I still keep the stamps of the small earth, birds, houses and other stamps I bought at that time."
Busy with junior high and high school studies, Lu Anne temporarily put away the hobby of philately, waited until Wuhan went to college, and picked it up again.
"Wuhan has a strong cultural atmosphere, I joined a philatelic society in Wuhan, which currently has more than 200 people, mainly young people." In the community, Lu Anne and her friends will design their own postcards and letters, and will also find photographers and painters to authorize them to make postcards with Wuhan characteristics such as cherry blossoms, Yellow Crane Tower, and Wuhan University, and stamp them at the post office.
They also share postcards with each other within the community, and exchange postcards with people in other cities and even other countries. "I have exchanged postcards with postmen from Russia, Spain, Finland, Germany and other countries." Lu anne said proudly.
Every year, Lu Anne also pays attention to the stamp issuance program. "Every year in July and August, the Hohhot Post Office in Inner Mongolia also issues stamps with themes such as Dunhuang and the Forbidden City, and it is during the summer vacation, and I often queue up for hours to buy them."
In Lu Anne's view, stamps and postcards are not only a condensed work of art, but also a carrier for spreading fingertips and words, and they are fascinating through the longing and uncertainty of their arrival through thousands of mountains and rivers. "In modern society, people can solve communication problems by calling and sending WeChat. But it's a different experience for us to pull words out of the code and feel the emotions they carry. In a fast-paced life, enjoying 'distance' and 'waiting' is a kind of happiness. ”
Development: Promote the "Internet + philatelic" model
Waiting now is as fast and easy as it used to be. In 1840, the world's first stamp was born in Britain, a small stamp on the envelope, you can "fly" to thousands of households, attracting many countries to follow; in 1878, the Qing government customs agency post, issued the first set of stamps, commonly known as "Big Dragon Stamps"; on October 8, 1949, New China issued the first set of stamps "Celebrating the First Plenary Session of the Chinese Political Consultative Conference", for more than 70 years, nearly 5,000 stamps have been issued.
The philatelic industry has also emerged in the development and exchange of stamps. "China's philately first appeared in Shanghai. In 1912, China's first philatelic group 'Shanghai Stamp Society' was born. According to the relevant person in charge of the Department of Philatelic and Cultural Media of Yancheng Branch of China Post Group Co., Ltd., in January 1955, the China Stamp Company was established, which opened the door to serving philatelic enthusiasts; in August 1982, the All-China Philatelic Federation was formally established, and philatelic associations and "philatelic houses" sprung up like mushrooms and prospered for a while.
However, under the impact of the Internet wave, the philatelic industry that resorted to paper was affected. According to public data, in 2020, China issued a total of 28 sets of special stamps, a decrease of 3 sets compared with 2019, a year-on-year decrease of 9.68%; in 2020, China issued a total of 68.49 million ordinary stamps, a decrease of 21.011 million from 2019, a year-on-year decrease of 23.48%.
In order not to be "photographed on the beach", the philatelic industry continues to keep pace with the times. "In the past, stamps were mainly hand-drawn, but later computer-designed stamps appeared. Zodiac tickets, which have always been more popular in China, will also be created through a combination of hand-drawn and computer- The relevant person in charge of the Department of Philatelic and Cultural Media of Yancheng Postal Branch said that in 2020, China also launched the photocopier overprinting process for the first time, the first introduction of the full-color superimposed hot stamping process, the innovative special-shaped perforation design, and the launch of the stamp blind box.
Today, the philatelic industry does have a warming trend. On May 11, 2020, China issued a major theme stamp "Unity of Will to Fight the Epidemic", which set off a sales boom; on July 1, 2021, the major theme stamp "The 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China" and the single stamp album and post fold were quickly ordered by customers.
"Although it is the era of science and technology, the number of stamp users is slowly decreasing, but philatelic enthusiasts have always existed, and philately has become one of the social and cultural activities and investment behaviors." The relevant person in charge of Yancheng Postal Branch said that the postal service is creating an open, online and offline integration, diversified operation of the philatelic cultural industry integrated service e-commerce platform in the form of "Internet + philately". "I hope that with the innovative development of the stamp market, more people will be integrated into this circle."
(Some of the pictures provided by the interviewee, Lu Siyu)