Chefoo Local Post
Local post issues depicted one of the watch towers from which Yantai derives its name.
The stamp depicted above is watermarked with the simplified Chinese character yan.
With the signing of the Treaty of Tianjin (Tien-tsin) in 1858, eleven new Chinese ports were opened to international trade. As a result, the fishing village of Yantai was opened to international trade three years later. It became known to foreigners as Chefoo although that was actually the name of a nearby island. Seventeen foreign powers established embassies in Chefoo.
Watch towers dating back to the end of the fourteenth century were used to warn the town against raids by Japanese pirates. Such a watch tower, along with more modern semaphore signals, is featured on some stamp designs dating back to the 1890's. The modern name of the city, Yantai(yan=smoke; tai=tower), is derived from these towers.
According to David Heppell, the Chefoo local post office was established in 1893 with its first stamps being issued on October 6th. Heppell ellaborates, "These were lithographed in Germany and impressed with a Chinese character "yan" as a watermark. There were four issues. In the first the "H" and "E" of "CHEFOO" are separate and the ball on the semaphore arm is clear and rounded in outline. In the third issue of March 1894 (the only other issue with these values and colours) the "H" and "E" are nearly touching at the bottom and the semaphore ball is irregular in outline."
Yantai, known as a treaty port as Chefoo, is located on China's northeastern coast.
