A pair of contemporary cards produced in Paris caricaturing Japan’s reaction to the Russian incursion into Manchuria, seen as a Russian boot, and the threat to Japanese interests in neighbouring Korea, represented by a postage stamp. It was these events that precipitated the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05. (Image)

1901 Russia 4k + 4k Reply-paid card sent by Senior Medical Officer with 3rd EAST SIBERIAN REGIMENT to Leipzig, dateline “Mugden (sic) 22 January 1901”, cancelled by No. 11 FIELD POST OFFICE/1/PRIAMUR DISTRICT cds in bright red (2 strikes), last 2 digits of year inverted, earliest known use of standard cancellers issued to Russian F.P.O.’s in Manchuria. Also included Russia 7k tied on piece of sealing envelope flap tied by circular FIELD POST TELEGRAPH OFFICE/MUKDEN(SKAYA)/No. 11 with space for completion of date by hand, struck in bright red. Only known example of provisional canceller brought into use when Russian offices opened in Mukden in November 1900. These two items show that contrary to what has been published, Mukden was provided with a canceller from the start of the Russian Occupation and that that of the Unified Post and Telegraphs services was the first to appear, not the last. (Image)

1901-03 Two German 5 pfg ‘China’ cards cancelled in violet and black respectively at Russia No. 3 FIELD POST OFFICE/PRIAMUR DISTRICT, the first to a German officer at Tsingtau 4 II1901, sent through Russian P.O.’s at Port Arthur and Chefoo, other to Germany date-line SHANHAIKWAN, used in combination with Russia 4k carried on Chinese Eastern POSTAL WAGON no. 266 (HARBIN-MANCHULI). This FPO was located at Shanhaikwan, which held a strong German contingent during the Boxer disturbances (Image)

1901-03 Postal stationery cards embossed with Chinese Dragons and Russian Imperial Arms, symbolising postal liaison between the two powers, one used from Port Arthur to Germany franked Russia 5k on reverse cancelled Type 2c dated 29 5 01, the other mailed from Yingkow (NEWCHANG) 5 12 03 at the Chinese P.O. and franked with 4c CIP and two Russia 2k, latter cancelled YINKOU/FIELD TELEGRAPH BRANCH, PRIAMUR DISTRICT. The Yingkow card is illustrated in “Russia Used Abroad”, Pt. 5 (1959), p. 459. fig. 653. (Image)

1901 Tientsin viewcard used from Mukden franked Russia 1k + 3k cancelled No 11 FIELD POST OFFICE /+/ PRIAMUR DISTRICT 3 VI 1901 cds in blue, transit Russian P.O. in Chefoo where encircled ‘T’ applied, both in violet, onto Shanghai, Hong Kong and to France where redirected internally. The card was treated as underpaid because at this date cards with messages were charged letter rate. This rule was commonly ignored. Another example of No. 11 FPO (Mukden) has been reported (Casey, 2004, BJRP no. 91, p.49) in red. (Image)

1901 Chinese postal stationery card uprated CIP 1c + 2c + 4c tied by YINGKOW/1/FIELD TELEGRAPH BRANCH PRIAMUR DISTRICT 10 VII 1901 ds, sent to Finland by German national and handed to Russian military office, transit Harbin (unrecorded type), St Petersburg and Helsinki arrival, Russian YINGKOW doplatit oval applied alongside of a previously unrecorded type. (Image)

1901 Incoming registered cover from the Russian monastic community at MOUNT ATHOS (Greece, near Salonica, and site of a Russian P.O. in the Turkish Empire) franked Russian Levant 10k pair tied by R.O.P.I.T. Athon cds, sent to Harbin, Manchuria (two strikes of cancel 11 and 24 June), redirected to NINGUTA and showing the only known strike of the datestamp reading “NINGUTA/1/FIELD TELEGRAPH BRANCH PRIAMUR DISTRICT” dated 14 and 15 August, one showing error ‘1900’ for ‘1901’, note on front stating the addressee, a member of the 18th East (Siberian) Rifle Regiment at Ninguta had been discharged and the letter retuned to Mount Athos, transit Odessa cds’s in both directions, remarkable cover (Image)

1901 Registered decorative card to Madgeburg, Germany franked Russia 4k + 10k tied by No. 17 FIELD POST OFFICE/1/PRIAMUR DISTRICT 13 XII 1901, matching registration label alongside, transit marks of Harbin (Type 1) and Moscow. Earliest known cancellation of No. 17 Field Post Office (Dalny) and first registered item to be recorded. (Image)

1902 Decorative card registered to Finland with dateline “SIN-MIN-TIN” South Manchuria 30 1 1902 franked 1k (2), 2 other stamps removed, cancelled No. 22/1/FIELD POST OFFICE 4 II 1902 cds’s in blue, registration label with same inscription as canceller alongside, transit marks of Moscow/Nikolaevsk Railway Station and St Petersburg. A temporary Field Post Office was opened in Sin-Min-Tin , SW of Mukden, from August 1901 to September 1902, hitherto doubtfully designated No. 22. This card is the first recorded item of mail from Sim-Min-Tin and confirms the allocation of No. 22 to this office. (Image)

1889-92 Pair of 14k cancelled TALIENWAN/1/FIELD TELEGRAPH BRANCH 5 III 1902 cds, only known example of this cancellation, introduced late in 1901 when the Russians had transferred the name TALIENWAN (Russian Talienvan) from Dalny to the village of LYU-SHU-TUN, 11km the north-east, on the opposite side of Talien Bay (Image)

1902 Baikal viewcard to St Petersburg franked 3k cancelled No. 7 FIELD POST OFFICE/1/PRIAMUR DISTRICT 3 IV 1902. No.7 FPO was located at the time at MUDANGTSIANG, near KIRIN, capital of the Manchurian province of that name. (Image)

1902 Picture-postcard to Tyumen Siberia franked 4k tied by KVANCHANDZY FIELD TELEGRAPH BRANCH PRIAMUR DISTRICT 14 IV 1902, transit POSTAL WAGON no.82 (Chelybinsk-Vyatka) 2 V 1902, received TYUMEN next day. “KVANCHANDZY” was early Russian name for important station on Line 265/266 of Chinese Eastern Railway south of Harbin, later called Kwangchentze, better known as Changchun. A Field Post Office and Field Telegraph Branch were opened there in November 1900. This card shows the earliest recorded date for the FTB (Image)

1902 Japanese card addressed from Tiehling, Manchuria, to Moscow franked Russia 1k + 2k tied by No. 10 FIELD POST OFFICE/PRIAMUR DISTRICT 11 6 1902, transit mark applied the same day: TELIN/FIELD TELEGRAPH BRANCH/PRIAMUR DISTRICT. Only known entire bearing this cancellation confirming the location of No. 10 FPO in Tiehling (Image)

1902 Registered red-band cover addressed in Chinese and Russian to Colonel Madritov at Port Arthur franked 4k + 10k tied by MUKDEN/FIELD TELEGRAPH BRANCH PRIAMUR DISTRICT 25 IX 1902 with Mukden registration label alongside, all on reverse, Port Arthur arrival on obverse. Lt.Col.A.S. Madritov, a member of the Russian general staff, was involved in the Yalu River Timber Concession, one of the causes of the Russo-Japanese war. Gen. Kuropatkin ordered him to sever his links with the timber company or resign his commission. Madritov mapped the area of Manchuria along the Korean border and in May 1904 led a raid across the Yalu to attack the Japanese in Korea. As a detachment commander, he later played an active part in the battles of Lioyang, Sha-Ho and Mukden (Image)

1902 Registered postcard to Germany franked 4k + 10k tied by No. 17 FIELD POST OFFICE/1/PRIAMUR DISTRICT 26 X 1902 with DALNII registration label, Port Arthur and Moscow transit marks and Dresden arrival all alongside. In addition 1k block of 4 with the same cancel dated 8 XI 1902. (Image)

1903 Registered cover to Germany from Tientsin, China, initially franked Chinese ‘dragon’ stamps, re-registered at Russian P.O. YINGKOW where 2 blocks of 4 5k ‘Kitai’ applied front and back, front block tied by No.13 FIELD POST OFFICE / PRIAMUR DISTRICT 20 II 1903 cds, reverse block uncancelled but tied by wax seal, Yingkow registration label and Tientsin registration handstamp also on reverse along with BRANCH POSTAL WAGON No. 3 (4) 12 III 1903 and manuscript “Received from P.W. 30 with split envelope, repaired and sealed. Examining clerk Laizhovski”, envelope slightly reduced at top left, full of character, ex Casey (Image)

1903 Long registered cover from U.S. Consulate in DALNY to San Francisco franked on reverse 7k strip of 3 tied by DALNY FIELD TELEGRAPH BRANCH 1 cds’s, transferred next day to No. 17 FIELD POST OFFICE (DALNY); thence by three Trans-Siberian Railway Postal wagons (Lines 260, 242, 198), received Moscow 12 V 03, DEUTSCHE-AMERIKA SEEPOST HAMBURG-NEW YORK 28 6 03, San Francisco 11 June 1903. The long route across Siberia , Europe and the Atlantic, rather than the normal Pacific Ocean routing by way of Japan, may reflect the mounting tension between Russia and Japan prior to he Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Cover described “Rossica Journal” No. 68 (1965), pp.20-24, as first recorded example of the Dalny Field Telegraph canceller. (Image)

1903 Registered opened-out red-band cover to Novorossiisk, Russia, franked on reverse two 7k tied by HAILAR/2/FIELD POST-TELEGRAPH OFFICE TRANSBAIKAL PROVINCE 24 III 1903 cds’s. Placed 3 days on Chinese Eastern Railway POSTAL WAGON no. 262 (HARBIN-MANCHULI), thence by Trans-Siberian POSTAL WAGONS No. 260 (MANCHULI-CHITA), No.242 (CHITA-IRKUTSK) and No. 198 (IRKUTSK-KRASNOYARSK). Although Hailar is situated in western Manchuria its Field Post Office was evidently run from the adjoining Siberian province of Transbaikal. (Image)

1903 Registered cover from the Austro-Hungarian Legation in PEKING to Copenhagen, franked initially with China Imperial Post 30c tied by oval bilingual Peking ds, sent via Chinese P.O.’s in TIENTSIN and NEWCHANG (YINGKOW) to Russian P.O., re-registered and refranked with Russian ‘Kitai’ 5k (6) tied by No. 13 FIELD POST OFFICE/PRIAMUR DISTRICT 16 V 03, on reverse registration label: YINGOU FIELD POST-TELEGRAPH OFFICE, cover signed Mikulski. The sedentary Russian F.P.O.’s in Manchuria were at this time open for civilian mail. (Image)

1903 Quadruple-rate cover to England endorsed “via Siberia” in English and Russian (blue handstamp) with additional blue directional mark in Russian “Germany”, franked initially 4 China 10c “dragon” stamps, tied by bilingual Chinese TIENTSIN 31 May 1903 and sealed on reverse with 3 wax seals of Tientsin bank, passed to Chinese P.O.NEWCHANG next day (backstamp), thence to Russian Field Post Office at YINGKOW (=NEWCHANG) where vertical strip of 4 10k ‘Kitai’ stamps applied and tied by No.13 FIELD POST OFFICE/1/PRIAMUR DISTRICT 20 V 1903 (Old Style = 2 June 1903 New Style), Surbiton arrival backstamp. (Image)

1903 Cover to France endorsed in Russian “Via Siberia/France” franked 10k ‘Kitai’ tied by SHANHAIKWAN/1/FIELD TELEGRAPH BRANCH PRIAMUR DISTRICT cds, backstamped transit mark of Trans-Siberian T.P.O. POSTAL WAGON No. 260 (MANCHULI-CHITA) and Toulon arrival, ex Casey Note: ‘Kitai’ stamps were intended for use in China proper and were not sold in the Manchurian offices, though accepted for postage when offered. (Image)

1903 Postcard addressed from TIENTSIN 10 July 1903 to England franked 4c Chinese ‘Dragon’ stamp cancelled next day by local bilingual cds, received Chinese P.O. NEWCHANG 15 July 03 and passed to Russian P.O. where two Russian 2k ‘Kitai’ stamps applied and tied by No. 13 FIELD POST OFFICE/1/PRIAMUR DISTRICT 3 VII 1903, Russian words for “Via Siberia” and “England” struck in blue, redirected on arrival (Image)

1903 Chinese 1c postal stationery card uprated China ‘Dragons’ 1c + 2c + 10c tied by Chinese bilingual Tientsin cds’s sent registered to Austria and endorsed ‘via Siberia’, received at YINGKOW(NEWCHANG) and passed to the Russian Field Post Telegraph Office where it was re-registered and franked Russia ‘Kitai’ 2k pair and 10k tied by ‘No. 13 FIELD POST OFFICE PRIAMUR DISTRICT’, Yingkow registration label and boxed registration cachet alongside, Innsbruck arrival (Image)

1903 Chinese 1c postal stationery card uprated Chinese ‘Dragon’ 1c + 5c tied by tombstone chop, message (in French) “to be sent by the post-boy from An-yin”, oval bilingual transit of PAOTING datestamp alongside, arrived at Chinese P.O. NEWCHANG (YINGKOW) 11 AUG 1903, passed to Russian P.O. for transmission to Belgium, franked ‘Kitai’ two 2k tied by YINGKOW/FIELD TELEGRAPH BRANCH/PRIAMUR DISTRICT/30 July 1903. Since China was not a member of the UPU its stamps were not valid for usage to foreign destinations hence the card being handed over to the Russian F.P.O. at Yingkow which handled civilian mail. The apparent discrepancy in dates on postmarks is due to the fact that China had adopted the western Gregorian calendar, while Russia continued to use the old style Julian calendar, 13 days in arrear. (Image)

1903 Two Picture postcards, one addressed to a German warship at Chefoo, China, franked 1k ‘Kitai’ pair, the other to Germany franked 2k ‘Kitai’, both cancelled No. 17 FIELD POST OFFICE/1/PRIAMUR DISTRICT showing damaged canceller characteristic of late usage, latter with Chinese Eastern Railway POSTAL WAGON No. 262 (6). ‘Kitai’ stamps were not sold in the Manchurian offices but were accepted when supplied by the customer. (Image)