2010 Shanghai World Expo.

        This must be one of the more unique issues New Zealand has ever done. They are almost like two stamps from two different countries which have somehow found themselves joined, grafted together, making one stamp.

        These stamps were issued to coincide with the opening of ‘Expo 2010 Shanghai China’. The theme of the Expo was ‘Better City, Better Life’ and New Zealand's pavilion follows this with the theme ‘Cities of Nature, Living between Land and Sky’.
        The issue draws on five parallels between New Zealand and Chinese culture and geography, and features illustrations inspired by some of the items in the New Zealand Pavilion. The stamps are double length and designed to be folded over the edge of special first day covers with two fronts and no back. See this cover further down.

NZ Post promoted the issue as:-

                       Celebrating our nation’s participation at ‘Expo 2010 Shanghai China’, we present

                       an exciting collection of stamp products that capture the remarkable similarities

                       between the cultures of New Zealand and China.

                       为庆祝我国参与中国2010年上海世博会，

                       我们特呈现这套精美的收藏邮品系列，

                       该套邮品细致地描绘了中新两国文化间一些显著的相似之处。



 Below is a postcard showing the New Zealand pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai Expo.

The Five Stamps.



        Below I show the five stamps with each rotated so the Chinese half can be viewed as well. On one end is a subject relating to Chinese culture while the second half shows a corresponding subject from Maori culture.
       Two links that you might also find useful are:-
                       An index to stamps featuring Maori themes New Zealand Maori.
                       A link to most stamps with Chinese themes Chinese New Year. 

                

                     50c – Pohutukawa and Peony Flowers.                

The 50-cent stamp features our native pohutukawa alongside the Chinese peony flowers often seen in Chinese art. Both blossoms are red, a colour of significance in both Māori and Chinese cultures.

                                                    

$1.00 – Kaitiaki and Fu Dog.

The $1.00 stamp features the Māori kaitiaki and China’s Fu Dog which both have similar roles in their own culture. Kaitiaki are carers, guardians, protectors and conservers of the sky, sea and land, while pairs of Fu Dogs (also known as guardian lions, lion dogs and temple lions) can be found outside many Chinese homes and businesses, providing powerful protection against bad fortune.

                    

$1.80 – Tane and Pan Gu.

See our post 2014 Matariki - Papatūānuku and Ranginui.

 The $1.80 stamp features the Maori story of Tane and the Chinese story of Pan Gu. According to Māori legend, ‘Tane’ (the god of the forests and birds) was instrumental in creating the world of light after separating his parents Papatūānuku (the sky father) and Ranginui (the earth mother.) The story of how ‘Pan Gu’ created the world by separating the heaven and the earth from chaos is one of many Chinese creation stories. After his death, Pan Gu’s body parts became the earth, the sun, the moon and the clouds.

                                                       

$2.30 – Auckland and Shanghai.

The $2.30 stamp features Auckland and Shanghai. Just as Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, so is Shanghai the largest city in China (it’s also the largest city in the world). Both cities have harbour-side locations, with the shipping trades of the past leading to their growth and development as prime business and tourism locations today.

                 

$2.80 – Heitiki and Cong.

See our post Heitiki.

The $2.80 features two important artefacts from New Zealand and Chinese culture, the Heitiki and the Cong. Jade (pounamu) is significant in both Māori and Chinese cultures. Its importance and use by both civilisations dates back thousands of years. The similarity is portrayed in this stamp by the heitiki and cong, both jade objects once owned and used by high-ranking ‘aristocrats’. The heitiki is the most precious of Māori pendants, gifted in recognition of major achievements or deeds performed on behalf of others, while the tubular-shaped cong is a symbol of good luck, traditionally used for religious functions and funerals.

Se-tenant sheets.

The stamps were issued in se-tenant sheets with one block of five stamps, as seen above, covering about the same area as a regular sized envelope. The set was designed so it could be folded over the edge of a specially designed envelope to create the two sided First Day Cover mentioned above.

Bi-lingual information about the Expo was printed on the gum of each stamp in the sheetlets and se-tenant blocks. This information was not printed on the stamps included in the miniature sheet since this was found on the sheet itself. I am not sure I would like licking these stamps since there is printing ink over the gum.

First Day Cover.

First Day Cover - 30 April 2010.

The Miniature Sheet.

The miniature sheet contains all stamps in the set and was also designed to be folded in half for first day covers. The stamps in the miniature sheet to do not have text overprinted on the gum which gives rise to the two varieties for mint stamps. The same text, however, is printed on the front of the miniature sheet in both English and Chinese.

Technical information.

Date of Issue:	30 April 2010.
Number of stamps:	Five gummed stamps.
Denominations:	50c, $1.00, $1.80, $2.30, $2.80.
Designed by:	Assignment Group, Wellington, New Zealand.
Printer and process:	Southern Colour Print Ltd by offset lithography.
Number of colours:	Four process colours.
Stamp size and format:	30mm x 80mm (vertical).
Paper type:	Tullis Russell 104gsm red phosphor gummed stamp paper.
Stamps per sheet:	10 stamps.
Perforation gauge:	14.
Period of sale:	30 April, 2010 until 29 April 2011.



Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ

You can visit their web site and On-line Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/