Gongchen Bridge in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province, a landmark and the southmost terminal of the Hangzhou section of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, is featured on a series of special 1.20 yuan stamps issued by China Post, along with a famous Qing Dynasty warehouse.

Special stamp of Gongchen Bridge with a face value of 1.20 yuan

An issuing ceremony for the stamps, which were designed by famous stamp designers Yan Bingwu and Li Qingfa, was held at the Grand Canal Square in central Hangzhou’s Gongshu district on Saturday morning. Wang Guoping, secretary of the Hangzhou Municipal Committee, attended the ceremony.

Many stamp collectors across China waited in line to buy the serial stamps and other postal materials, and dozen of stamp collections were on display at Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Museum. A new post office was established on the same day, where students from Gongchen Bridge Primary School will help sell postal materials.

Other attendees at the ceremony included Xu Qinhua, secretary-in-general and Zhao Guangyu, Vice Chairman of CPPCC and managers from the Zhejiang Postal Service.

With a length of 98 meters and a height of 16 meters, the Gongchen Bridge in Hangzhou dates back to 1631 in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and was rebuilt in 1881 in the Qing Dynasty (1636-1911). Silk and cotton factories were launched here in 1950s and 1960s, bringing prosperity to the area along the canal.

Thanks to a four-year project carried out by local government to protect the environment of the canal, the shabby houses and the abandoned factory plants along the canal that had developed there were replaced by a park in 2006..

At the same time, the Canal Culture Square and the Museum of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal were opened to the public. The canal was named on a waiting list for application for World Heritage status in December, 2009.