France marks Chinese Lunar Year with rat stamps

French postal service company La Poste issued two Year of Rat stamps in a ceremony here on Saturday to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The initiative to issue Chinese zodiac stamps dated back to 2005. Each year the French postal service company celebrates the Chinese New Year by issuing the stamp featuring the year's zodiac animal.

The Chinese astrology has 12 animal figures and the rat is the first in the series, representing wealth and shrewdness in the Chinese culture.

This year's stamps are designed by Paris-based Chinese artist Chen Jiang Hong. The first pane of 400,000 stamps depicts a rat with a lotus and the second set, containing 325,000 copies, features a rat bride based on Chinese folklore.

The new stamps will be on sale on Jan 20 in French post offices and the site of the postal service company.