Gong Qiming, a 74-year-old man in Nantong, east China’s Jiangsu province looks through a stamp album at home. [Photo/ ntjoy.com]

You may know of a stamp collecting enthusiast, but you may not know a person who has been collecting stamps for more than six decades.

But there is an old man in Nantong, east China’s Jiangsu province, who is quite fond of collecting stamps. He is now 74 years old and has collected stamps for 62 years.

These stamps are themed around politics, economy and culture, showing the great changes that have taken place in China.

Reporters from Qidong Daily visited the old man Gong Qiming’s home in Qidong county, Nantong on Feb 18.

Gong told reporters that he collected the first stamp in his life when he was 12 years old when he used to live with his parents in Shanghai’s Yangpu district.

“My first stamp was cut from an envelope with a letter from my grandparents,” Gong said. “I saw that the stamp was very beautiful and I put into one of my textbooks,” he said.

He recalled that in the picture of the stamp, there was a girl with a round face presenting a boutique to a soldier from the Chinese People's Volunteer Army who had just returned from the Korean War (1950-53).

Gong Qiming shows the first stamp he collected when he was 12 years old. [Photo/ ntjoy.com]

The stamp was issued on Nov 20, 1958, to commemorate the triumphant return of the volunteer army from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to help in the war of resistance against the US aggression.

From then on, Gong began to collect stamps not only from envelops of his own, but also from his neighbors and friends.

In 1964, Gong went to work in a factory, and then joined the army. When he was in the army, he was still keen on collecting stamps. Other soldiers gave their stamps to Gong after they knew of Gong’s hobby.

In 1980s, more and more people were enthusiastic about collecting stamps, and there were more categories of stamps.

At the end of each year, China Post released information of the stamps to be issued next year. Gong was always among the first batch of people waiting to buy stamps in front of the door of the post office near where he lived.

In 1999, Gong spent several thousand yuan buying one of the most expensive stamps he collected. The stamp displays a stage photo of the famous Chinese Peking opera actor Mei Lanfang playing the part of Yang Guifeng, regarded as one of the four beauties of ancient China and the beloved consort of an emperor in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Photo shows one of the most expensive stamps collected by Gong. The stamp displays a stage photo of the famous Chinese Peking opera actor Mei Lanfang playing the part of Yang Guifeng, regarded as one of the four beauties of ancient China and the beloved consort of an emperor in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). [Photo/ ntjoy.com]

There were only 20,000 of these stamps, and because of its rareness, it has been sold at a high price of 50,000 yuan in recent years.

In 2010, Gong settled down in his hometown Qidong after retirement. He joined a philatelic association for the retired cadres in the city.

Recently, Gong has fallen in love with stamps of national projects. “These stamps are of great historic significance and witness great changes taken place in China,” he said.