China Bullet Train Meet-up Series

In June a special series of Postcrossing Meet-ups was held in China, the China Bullet Train Meet-up Series. In eight cities Postcrossers came together at the high speed railway stations to meet each other and to send many postcards. Luckily I was able to get a postcard from every meet-up.

Plans for China's high-speed railway network first arose in the early 1990s, but just in the last 15 years the network developed rapidly with substantial funding from the Chinese government. At first the trains were imported or built with the help of companies from Canada, France, Germany or Japan, but nowadays indigenous trains are built, which are designed for speeds of 250-350 km/h. Today the Chinese network is the longest high speed railway network in the World. Although the high-speed trains now already reach the most of the important cities and provincial-level administrative divisions, the building boom continues. It is set to reach 38,000 km in 2025 from 29,000 km at the end of 2018. Which is no wonder, as the network is also the most extensively used in the World. A broad range of travelers of different income levels choose the high-speed trains due to their comfort, convenience, safety and punctuality, which has greatly reduced travel time and has transformed Chinese society and economy. 

The first card arrived on 12th June and came from Shanghai, where the meet-up was held on 1st June.

Stamps:
Slender West Lake (from set of three) (issued 18-04-2015)
Yangtze River Economic Belt (from set of six) (issued 26-08-2018)

The next card came already one day later. This time it was from Hong Kong, where the meet-up was held on 9th June. It should be noted that on 9th June also the largest protest ever held in Hong Kong took place to oppose the introduction of the Fugitive Offenders amendment bill proposed by the Hong Kong government and that the protests still continue until today.

Stamp:
Characters in Jin Yong's Novels (from set of six) (issued 06-12-2018)

The third card to arrive was from Hangzhou and came on 19th June. The meet-up there was held on 2nd June.

With a matching stamp:
Achievements of China's High Speed Railway Development (from set of four) (issued 25-11-2017)
Special-use Stamp for Greeting Cards (two from set of four) (issued 08-08-2013)

The meet-up in Wuhan was also held on 1st June, but the card arrived here just on 27th June.

After one stamp got lost these two remained:
90 years Chinese People's Liberation Army (from set of six) (issued 01-08-2017)
Special-use Stamp for Greeting Cards (from set of four) (issued 08-08-2013)

The card from Qingdao, where the meet-up was also held on 1st June, really suffered during its journey, but just arrived one day after the one from Wuhan.

Three matching stamps were used, but just one arrived:
Achievements of China's High Speed Railway Development (from set of four) (issued 25-11-2017)

The swap for the card from Beijing I arranged later than the others, so the card just arrived on 6th July. The meet-up in Beijing was also held on 1st June.

Stamps:
Children's Sports and Games (from set of six) (issued 31-05-2017)
Phoenix in Art (from set of six) (issued 29-07-2017)

The meet-up in Dongguan on 30th June was the last to be held, so the card just arrived on the 20th July.

Stamps:
Achievements of China's High Speed Railway Development (from set of four) (issued 25-11-2017)
Fruits (from set of four) (issued 14-07-2018)
Special-use Stamp for Greeting Cards (from set of four) (issued 08-08-2013)

The card from Shenyang was the most difficult to arrange for me and the card just arrived on 24th August, over two months after the first card arrived. The meet-up there was held on 6th June.

Stamp:
22nd Congress of the Universal Postal Union (from set of two) (issued 23-08-1999)

Big Thank You to everyone who helped me to collect these cards! ^___^