THE PHILATELY OF

THE HONG KONG TREATY PORTS

The Treaty of Nanking also required China to open certain ports to trade and a British Consul was appointed at each port. In 1844 postal agencies were opened in the Amoy, Canton, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai consulates. Later more were opened in China and in Japan.. These agencies were initially operated by the G.P.O. in London, but, in 1868, were turned over to the Hong Kong Post Office.
The Treaty Port Offices in Japan were closed in 1879 due to competition from the newly-established Japanese overseas mail department and cheaper, faster, mail routes to Europe via San Francisco.
In 1917, Hong Kong stamps overprinted "China" were introduced. While the Chinese Treaty Port consular post offices were closed in 1922, in Wei-Hai-Wei, a small British Colony held on lease from China, the post office continued to operate until 1930, when the Colony was returned to China and the final curtain descended on the Era of The Treaty Ports.

Postal History

The Treaty Port Offices were first issued their own cancellors, barred oval 'killers', in 1866. Prior to this all of their outgoing mail had been cancelled 'B62' in Hong Kong and this practice continued for most of the mail. Only the "loose letters", received after the mail bags had been closed, were cancelled with the local 'killers'. With the later introduction of CDS type cancellors, all mail was cancelled locally.
In 1917, Hong Kong stamps overprinted "CHINA" were issued for use at the Treaty Port offices. These remained in use until the end.

The Early Treaty Port Postal Histories

TREATY PORT	YEAR P.O. OPENED	'KILLER' NUMERAL CANCELLATION
* * * * * C H I N A * * * * *
AMOY	1844	"A1" (1866-85), "D27" (1876-85)
CANTON	1844	"C1" (1866-85)
CHEFOO	186?	CDS cancels only
FOOCHOW	1844	"F1" (1866-85)
HANKOW	1872	"D29" (1879-85)
KIUNGCHOW (HOIHOW)	1873	"D28" (1876-85)
NINGPO	1844	"N1" (1866-85)
SHANGHAI	1844	"S1" (1866-85)
SWATOW	1861	"S2" (1866-85)
TIENTSIN	1882	CDS cancels only.
WEI-HAI-WEI (COLONY)	1899	CDS cancels only.
* * * * * J A P A N * * * * *
KOBE	1869	"D30" (1876-79)
NAGASAKI	1860	"N2" (1866-79)
YOKOHAMA	1859	"Y1" (1867-79)

- - - - - - TYPICAL 19th. CENTURY CANCELLATIONS - - - - - -

"Killer" Ovals		Single Circle CDS
Vertical 1866-85. RL-T2	Horizontal 1876-85. RL-T3	Straight name RL-PR	Curved name RL-PQ

- - - - - - TYPICAL 20th. CENTURY CANCELLATIONS - - - - - -

CDS Types incorporating various forms of "BRITISH POST OFFICE"
RL-T10	RL-T14	RL-T15	RL-T16	RL-T17

- - - - - - 'KILLER' CANCELLATIONS IN PRACTICE. - - - - - -
Maybe you can see how they got that name :-)

"D27" Amoy	"F1" Foochow	"S1" Shanghai	"Y1" Yokohama
SOME CDS CANCELS OF THE 19th. CENTURY
Amoy Type PR	Amoy Type PQ	Canton Type PR	Canton Type PQ
SOME CDS CANCELS OF THE 20th. CENTURY
Tientsin Single Circle	Chefoo & Tientsin Double Circles	Wei-Hai-Wei See Below

Wei-Hai-Wei was not a Treaty Port but a small British Colony held on lease from China.
A dependency of Hong Kong, on the same footing as the Treaty Ports, it was occupied in May,1898 and restored to China in October,1930
Initially a courier service carried mail to Chefoo, franked with labels known as "Wei-Hai-Wei locals". Then a Chinese P.O., Liu Kung Tau, was opened in March, 1899. This was closed in September and replaced by a British Post Office. In 1904 a second P.O. was opened in Port Edward, the European Quarter of the Settlement.
These offices continued operations up until the return of the Colony to China in 1930.

1904 Post Card: Shanghai - England "via Siberia"

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First Published on 25 March, 2000. Latest Revision on 23 March, 2002. Yet Another Continuing Project.