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China
A Brief Postal history
Regular government postal service is known from the Chou Dynasty. (late 10th century to 256 BC) The 1727 Treaty of Kyakhta with Russia provided for the first regular exchange of mail.
A policy of isolation was forcibly ended in the 19th century by the Opium War and the subsequent opening of treaty ports. The term "treaty Port" is usually confined to ports in those countries that formerly strongly objected to foreign trade or attempted altogether to exclude it. Shanghai organized its own Shanghai local post in 1865.
Shanghai Local Post
In the same year, the Englishman Robert Hart developed a mail service for the Imperial Maritime Customs, initially to carry consular mail to and from treaty ports. This service was opened to the public on 1 May 1878.
China's first postage stamps, the "Large Dragons", were issued to handle payment.
1, 3 and 5 candareens values were issued by the Imperial Marine Customs Post.
In 1885 and in 1888 six additional stamps became available.
1885
1888
These are referred to as the "Small Dragons". by stamp collectors.
In 1894 nine additional stamps were issued. They are referred to as the "DOWAGER" Issues.
Initially, all mail to foreign destinations went through Shanghai.. On March 20, 1896 an edict directed that the Customs Post become the Imperial Postal Service effective 1 January 1897. Cents and Dollars were to be used in place of Candareens and Taels.
Through the first half of 1897, new stamps were unavailable, and so the existing stock was surcharged in cents and dollars, with several variants distinguished by philatelists.
One
example
They also used some Revenue stamps and overprinted them.
with
4 cent overprint
The first new stamps, inscribed "IMPERIAL CHINESE POST" went on sale 16 August 1897. The twelve values, ranging from 1/2c to $5, were lithographed in Japan. The low values depicted a dragon, the middle values a carp, and the dollar values a wild goose.
Chine Imperial post issues of 1898
(Ingraverd in London) The low values depicted a dragon, the middle values a carp, and the dollar values a wild goose as before.
The first commemorative stamps of China were issued in 1909 to mark the 1st year of the reign of the Xuantong Emperor. The set of three (2c, 3c, 7c), all depicted the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.
The revolution of 1911 resulted in overprints on the imperial stamps in 1912 at Foochow to indicate that the post office was effectively a neutral area available to both sides, and at Nanking and Shanghai reading "Republic of China". An additional set of overprints were produced by Waterlow & Sons in London, and postmasters throughout the country made their own unofficial overprints using the same characters.
Foochow
Nanking
The first new designs of the Republic were two commemorative sets of 12 each, the first set depicting Sun Yat-sen and second Yuan Shih-Kai, both issued on 14 December, 1912.
Sun Yat-sen
Yuan Shih-Kai
The definitives of the "Junk issue" went on sale 5 May 1913, and continued in use into the 1930s. The low values featured a junk, while values from 15c to 50c showed a farmer reaping rice, while the dollar values depicted the three-part gateway to the Hall of Classics in Beijing. The series was first printed in London, then in Beijing from 1915; they can be distinguished by close examination. The designs were re-engraved in 1923, and a number of design features were changed; for instance, the whitecaps in the water underneath the junk were removed, and the water darkened.
Continuing instability is apparent in the stamps mostly by the scarcity of new issues during the 1920s. In March 1928 a set of four depicting Marshal Chang Tso-lin marked his assumption of power.
Marshal Chang Tso-lin
In May 1929 Chiang Kai-shek makes a first appearance, commemorating the reunification of China.
Chiang Kai-shek
New definitives in 1931 depicted Sun Yat-sen. These stamps, along with the Martyrs issue of 1932 honoring six martyrs of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party), would see much overprinting in the next several years. 1931 also saw the invasion of Manchuria by the Japanese and the formation of Manchukuo, which issued its own stamps.
In 1939 the following four stamps were printed by the American Bank note Note Co. to note the 150th anniversary of the US constitution.
Many consider these some of the most beautiful stamps issued for the period.
Due to the second world war inflation, many stamps were issued overprinted to reflect higher values or with high denominations.
$2,000.00
on $5.00 
$500,000.00
Many other stamps were issued in this period for Provinces, Formosa Occupation stamps and Offices in Tibet, Shanghai and Tibet. Stamp collectors refer to this period as Imperial China.
Republic of China and the People's Republic of China
Taiwan or Formosa (meaning beautiful) sets off the coast of Asia. In 1886 it became a province of China. In the Sino-Japanise war of 1894-95 it was ceded to Japan. After the surrender of Japan in the second world war, it was returned to China. After Chiang Kai-shek "retired" to Taiwan in 1949, he and his government claimed they were the legitimate government of all China and called themselves the "Republic of China". Mao Tse-tung on mainland China disagreed and called his government "The Peoples Republic of China. Hence both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China.
Republic of China
The first stamps issued in 1950 were in a set of four using the design type of China 1949, but w/o the value surcharged in various colors.
This is the
$1.00 stamp.
Many of the stamps issued starting in 1952 were of President Chiang Kai-shek.
The following set was issued in 1953 and is one of the more interesting stamps issued.
Chiang Kai-shek died in 1975 while still president. In 1976 three stamps were issued for the 90th anniversary of his birth.
This one
is the middle value. ($2,5,&10)
Many, many stamps have been issued for the Republic. Here is an example of a set issued in 1961 showing ancient art treasures.
People's Republic of China (Communist)
The communists completed their conquest of mainland China in 1949. The first stamps to be issued were in a set of four and issued Oct.8 of that year.
100 yuan
value (30,50,100&200)
Stalin and Mao Tse-tung are on many of stamps. Here are a few examples plus more.
Many of the stamps are very colorful. These were issued in 1996. The last item in image is a souvenir sheet containing one stamp.
