Kuliang Post Office, located in the Kuliang Tourist Resort in Fuzhou city, East China's Fujian province, hosted a special postal history exchange event on July 9, bringing together members of the "Kuliang Friends", philatelists, postal history researchers and collectors to explore the stories of Kuliang preserved through stamps, postcards and historic mail.

Among the guests were Elyn MacInnis from the U.S., initiator of the "Kuliang Friends", and Zhang Youxin, a Chinese American postal history expert renowned for his long-standing research into Kuliang's postal heritage. They were joined by collectors and researchers from provincial and municipal philatelic associations.

Chinese and American postal enthusiasts pose for a group photo at a postcard-themed photo installation designed by Elyn MacInnis. [Photo/FZ Evening News]

Throughout the event, participants chose envelopes and postcards to be stamped with Kuliang's commemorative postmark before sending them to destinations across China and around the world, sharing Kuliang's story through the timeless tradition of letter writing.

During a discussion session, MacInnis unveiled the second Kuliang-themed postcard she created with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

Incorporating images of Kuliang Post Office, Kuliang stamps, historic "Foochow" envelopes, American cities and an ocean liner, the design symbolizes the enduring friendship between the Chinese and American people that has spanned the Pacific for more than a century.

MacInnis presented copies of the postcard to fellow participants, expressing her hope that more people would discover Kuliang and its unique history through its postal heritage.

Zhang, who has played an important role in advancing research on Kuliang's postal history, shared how his fascination with Kuliang postal covers first began.

For more than a decade, he has dedicated himself to collecting, cataloging and studying envelopes, postcards and other postal artifacts related to Kuliang, building an extensive collection of valuable historical materials.

According to Zhang, every postal cover from Kuliang may hold the story of a family, a friendship or even a chapter of history. Together, these authentic and heartwarming stories form an important part of Kuliang's unique cultural legacy.

In addition to the century-old postal covers, Zhang also showed a collection of envelopes issued and used after Kuliang Post Office reopened in 2012. Displayed side by side, the historic and contemporary postal items illustrated the continuity and evolution of Kuliang's postal culture across the generations.