This decorated postcard was sent by Wei from Taiwan. She has
used beautiful washi tapes and stickers. She has also used various coloured
pens and put a lot of effort into this postcard which I genuinely admire.
This postcard, titled “Le surnom” - which literally means “The nickname” - in French, is part of an illustrated booklet showcasing the differences between Paris and New York. The booklet “Paris versus New York” is an artistic rendering by Vahram Muratyan, a graphic artist based in Paris.
This card talks about the nicknames given to the two cities,
Paris and New York.
Paris is often
referred to as The City of Light (La Ville Lumière), because of its leading
role during the Age of Enlightenment and more literally because Paris was one
of the first European cities to adopt gas street lighting.
As for New York, the nickname "The Big Apple" originated in
the 1920s in reference to the prizes (or "big apples") rewarded at
the many racing courses in and around
New York City. However, it wasn't officially adopted as the city's nickname
until 1971 as the result of a successful ad campaign intended to attract
tourists.
Wei asked me
about the weather in India. She mentioned that winter in Taiwan is warm and
that she likes it. She also said that she finds the stamps to be cute, which I
certainly do too.
Here’s what she
wrote:
“Hello, Greetings from 台湾. This postcard is from a postcard book. I hope you will like it! How is the weather in India? The winter in Taiwan is warm, not cold! I like this weather <3. And the stamp is cute ☺. Regards, 2019.01.01. Wei”
She attached 3 stamps. Two stamps of 5 dollars depicting animals from the Chinese zodiac and one stamp of 2 dollars memorialising census of population.
The 2 animals depicted on the 5 dollar stamps are a Rooster on the left and a Monkey on the right.
Originating from China, the zodiac and its variations remain popular in many Asian countries, such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. In order, the 12 Chinese horoscope animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
Do you notice “Republic of China”
printed on the stamps, while the postcard is from Taiwan? That’s because The Republic of China is indeed the country of Taiwan! Yes. The China we know is
officially called The People’s Republic of China.
If you’d like to understand the history behind
it, please read ahead.
After the Kuomintang reunified
China in 1928, most of mainland China was governed by the Republic of China (ROC). The island of Taiwan was
under Japanese rule at the time. At the end of World War II in 1945,
Japan surrendered Taiwan to the Republic of China.
In 1949, there was a civil war in
China and the government (ROC) lost control of mainland China to the Communist Party, which
established the People's Republic of China (PRC) and took control
of all of mainland China. Only the island of Taiwan remained under the control
of the ROC.
Since then, both the ROC and the
PRC have been claiming to represent all of "China", and both officially
claim each other's territory. Thus began the fight of the two
governments claiming to be the legitimate Government of China.
Here’s a video for better understanding –
Now, the postmarks are distinctly visible but, it is in Mandarin. So, this is another card for which I couldn’t decipher the postmark.