It’s January and that means it’s time to explore Macau’s 2024 stamp program. Dragons start the colourful exploration of Macau’s history and culture with a celebration of the Chinese New Year. Lin Zien 林子恩 was picked to create the Year of the Dragon set that includes souvenir sheets, booklets, postcards and more. 

龍年

Reviewing 2023 produced a bit of indecision when it came to picking a top design. 廖文暢 Liu Man Cheong’s delicate water coloured Year of the Rabbit stamps bordered on ethereal, but Wu Wenyan’s 伍文燕 Five Great Ancient Chinese Beasts took top honours for 2023.  Wu’s souvenir sheet showcasing the dragon, turtle, phoenix, pixiu and kirin a happy balance of simplicity, colour and movement.   

You may disagree, but the combination of fantasy creatures and outstanding design won me over.  

The dragon has played a significant role in Chinese mythology and is the only fantastic creature in the Zodiac calendar. 2024 will be an extravaganza of dragons from around the world. I’ll be posting them here: The Dragon has arrived! (bittergrounds.com).

The program below (as of January) is a tentative list and will see some alterations.  That’s the nature of postal programs.  There will be a few changes on my part as well. This year, there will be more info on the designers themselves. After a few years, I’ve begun to recognise names and will hopefully be able to cross-reference the stamps.

Later in February, I’ll be going back over the earlier articles from 2021 to 2023 to add details that are missing, include topic headings and correcting a few formatting irregularities.  I noticed I missed a couple stamps from 2022 and I’ll post them asap. Not sure how I managed that, but what can I say, so many stamps and so little time.  

In the meantime, enjoy the year as it unfolds. 

Cheers, 
Catpaw

January

Year of the Dragon 龍年 
topic: Chinese New Year | holidays

4 stamps, mini panes of 4 blocks, souvenir sheet, 3 FDCs, cancel, 2 souvenir sheets, 4 postcards, booklets, souvenir packs, Souvenir Pack (jointly issued by Hong Kong and Macao), Souvenir Sheet with Souvenir Pack (Jointly issued by China, Hong Kong and Macao)
Includes a FDC joint issue with Australia and China 
offset, with microprinting.

The dragon is a totem in ancient times, and its prototype is a snake. In the great migration and integration of the Chinese nation In the long historical process, it has been continuously added, exaggerated and enriched by people of all ethnic groups, and it has finally become a totem that is compatible with many A strange form of worshiped dragon. Wang Fu, a scholar of the Eastern Han Dynasty, once described the image of a dragon like this: “The head is like a camel, the horns are like a deer, and the eyes are like a deer. It is like a rabbit, its ears are like an ox, its neck is like a snake, its belly is like a mirage, its scales are like a carp, its claws are like an eagle, its palms are like a tiger…” (“Qianfu Lun”) 
Macau Post press release Jan. 5, 2024

Designer: Lin Zien 林子恩
Lam Chi Yan|Macao Foundation (fmac.org.mo)
Zien designed Canada’s last Year of the Dragon stamps in 2010

Release date: January 5, 2024

150th Anniversary of Conde de Januário General Hospital
topics: history | hospitals

4 stamps, souvenir sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel, 4 sheets of 50, 2 info sheets
offset, microprinting

Hospital was originally built in 1874 as a Portuguese military hospital. 

Designer: 馮佰堅 Fung Pak Kin

Release date: January 6, 2024

February

Year of the Dragon Postage Label 
topic: Chinese New Year | holidays | ATM 

Details TBA

Release date: February 1, 2024

March

140th Anniversary of Macao Post and Telecommunications

souvenir sheet with stamp, FDC, cancel, info sheet, booklet of 8, souvenir sheet booklet
offset

Macau first stamp was issued March 1, 1884, under the authority of the Department of Posts and Telecommunications.

 Release date: March 1, 2024

April 

75th anniversary of the founding of the Clarion Newspaper

2 stamps, souvenir sheet, 2 FDCs, sheet of 8 (2 stamps x 5 each), 2 info sheets
outset

Designer: Ma Weida 馬偉達

Release date: April 23, 2024

May

The 40th Anniversary of Macao Television and Broadcasting

Release date: May 13, 2024

Macao Intangible Cultural Heritage

Release date: May 17, 2024

June

Macau Country Walking Trail

Release date: June 18, 2024

October

150th Anniversary of the Universal Postal Union

Release date: October 9, 2024

December

The 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region

Release date: December 20, 2024

The 25th Anniversary of the Arrival of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Garrison in Macao

Release date: December 20, 2024