Hong Kong Year of Rat S/S FDC

Hong Kong Imperforated Stamp Sheetlet FDC
Name: Year of the Rat
Issue date: 26 January 2008

This is the ninth Lunar New Year special stamp issue in the third series released by Hongkong Post. The first and second sets of special stamps for the Year of the Rat were issued in 1972 and 1996 respectively.

Each lunar year in China is named after an animal, running in twelve-year cycles. As the Rat is the first animal in the sequence, the cycle will begin again in 2008. In traditional Chinese culture, the Rat is a symbol of intelligence and agility. People born under this sign are considered to be sharp-witted. Cheerful and amiable, they make friends easily.

The four stamps come in denominations of $1.40, $2.40, $3.00 and $5.00, and depict four cute and smart rats. To enhance the gradation of light and shade and accentuate the three-dimensional effect, five-colour printing is used on the stamps to highlight the image detail of the rats against a background embellished with silver foliage.

The First Day Cover design presents an interesting combination of paper-cutting and computer aided drawing. The paper-cut pattern gives a note of festivity, and the cute rat in the front heralds the Year of the Rat.

2008 China Year of the Rat Stamp Minisheet Booklet
2008 Hong Kong Year of the Rat FDC Minisheet FDC Imperf. S/S FDC
2008 Indonesia Year of the Rat FDC S/S FDC
2008 Japan Year of the Rat Lottery S/S FDC
2008 Singapore Year of the Rat FDC Minisheet FDC
2008 Taiwan Year of the Rat FDCs Pre-stamped Postcards
2008 Thailand Year of the Rat FDC Minisheet FDC
2008 USA Year of the Rat FDC
2008 Vietnam Year of the Rat FDC