100th Anniversary of the Alishan Forest Railway Commemorative Souvenir Sheet

Commemorative Envelope (Locality cover)

Commemorative Envelope

First Day Entire Cover

Alishan, with its beautiful natural scenery and rich ecological resources, is a world famous tourist destination. The Beimen to Erwanping section of Alishan Forest Railway officially opened to traffic on December 25, 1912. Along with the mountain’s sacred trees, sunrise, sunset, and sea of clouds, the railway is one of the “Five Wonders of Alishan.” The Alishan Forest Railway was once a very busy train track because of logging on the mountain. With changes to Taiwan’s economic structure, the railway’s role has shifted from a transporter of lumber to a cultural asset with its scenic spots and historical architecture dating from a century ago. To mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of the railway, Chunghwa Post will issue a souvenir sheet.

Commemorative postmark

Temporary post office datemark

The souvenir sheet has a bright color scheme with mountains and a route map in the background. Four different trains are featured. One of the two stamps features one train pulled by a No.31 steam engine passing through flowering cherry trees (NT$25); and the other, headed by a diesel engine, is coming out of the No.1 tunnel (NT$5). Elsewhere on the sheet there is a train on the No.13 Bridge over the Niuchou River and a train being pulled by the No. 25 steam engine. With its images of trains traversing the forest, the sheet is imbued with a great sense of dynamism. The beautiful golden emblem on the upper left corner signifies the railway’s glorious service over the last hundred years.

A stamp pictorial will go on sale on December 25, 2011, the issuing date of the stamps. The pictorial comprises one souvenir sheet, an NT$5 denominated Alishan stamp of the Personal Greeting Stamps – Travel in Taiwan, a silver foil and a set of 6 postal cards.