21st SUMMER UNIVERSIADE
Beijing, China - August 22nd - September 1st, 2001
Stamps
China Post paraded out a myriad of postal materials, including stamps, postcards and a wide variety of miscellaneous items that could be purchased by the citizens of Beijing; others were earmarked for VIP's only. Prior to the start of the Universiade, China Post produced ten booklets, each booklet containing ten postcards. Nine of the booklets represented the sports of judo, fencing, gymnastics, swimming and diving, athletics, basketball, volleyball, water polo, table tennis and football. The last featured the Universiade itself. They were valid for postal use. There were three stamps issued for the Games, each in sheets of 20. A folder was produced with a very special sheet of the 80p stamp which featured in the gutter labels all of the sports mascots alternating with the emblem of the 21st Summer Universiade. At the top of the sheet is a picture of a stadium used during the Universiade. A VIP gift featured twelve of these sheets each with a different stadium in the upper left-hand corner. A special cover for the Opening Ceremony of the Universiade was printed along with a set of holographic covers each featuring one of the twelve sports included in the Universiade.
Mascot Lala
Cancellations of the mascot Lala representing the different sport disciplines.
Cancels
There were 28 different official postmarks covering all the major sporting venues used for the competition at the Games. Thes postmarks were always in black and measured 1.2" in diameter.
In addition, an unofficial cancel in red with fixed date was produced for each of the twelve sports showing the mascot of the Universiade. All measure 1.6" in diameter. Four additional fixed date cancels were produced: two each showing the Games' logo and the mascot.
A handsome set of postal cards was also produced. The cards were printed in pairs, separated by a gutter. The top card featured one of the twelve sports, while the bottom showed the Universiade logo. The gutter portrayed the venue for the sport illustrated. The reverse of the cards was imprinted with a 60p peony stamp. Cleverly, the revers of the gutter portion is a calendar, each of the twelve pairs of cards featuring a different month.
More Than 60 Cancellations!
During the Summer Universiade in Beijing, China, more than sixty cancellations were used.
On May 4th, 2001 a special handcancel (left) was used to commemorate the start of the 'Torch Relay'. On August 15th, 2001 there was a standard circular date cancel whitout any pictoral image used to record the rehearsal for the special 'Opening Ceremony' of the Athletes' Village.
On August 22nd, 2001 the Opening Ceremony of the Universiade the first day of issue of a three-stamp set was issued. The special first day cancel is shown above, first row, first from the left . Second row, far right: the cancel with a weightlifter is somewhat of a mystery as it depicts a sport which is not competed at the Universiade.
Only Non-Chinese Item
The only non-Chinese item is a red meter imprint celebrating the Beijing Summer Universiade from FISU used on all postal items mailed from the FISU HQ in Brussels.
© FISU -