Canada Post unveils Year of the Water Snake stamps

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TORONTO: Canada Post ushered in the Chinese Lunar New Year with their highly anticipated Year of the Water Snake stamps on Tuesday in the Canadian city of Toronto, Xinhua news agency reported.

The national carrier unveiled the designs for the duo stamp issue at a ceremony, giving collectors both a chance to stock up and meet the stamps designers Joe Gault and Avi Dunkelman.

The new stamps are the fifth pair in Canada Post’s second Chinese Lunar New Year series.

Canada Post’s general manager of consumer product management Alice Lafferty said the longstanding tradition is their way of ringing in the new year and celebrating the diverse cultures within the community.

“Lunar New Year is one of our most popular stamp issues and it’s very important for Canadians.

At Canada Post, we really want to celebrate all of those events that Canadians are celebrating,” she said.

The latest issue combined complex techniques and luxurious designs to portray both the essence of the snake and beliefs of the Chinese people.

The domestic issue shows a red snake gliding on water while the international issue portrays a yellow and jade green snake coiled into a fi gure eight, an auspicious number in the Chinese culture.

With 5.5 million domestic rate stamps and 2.25 million international rate stamps issued, Lafferty said nearly 8 million stamps are available in the market for collectors to snatch up. — Bernama