• Royal Mail heralds Year of the Dragon on special sheet of 20 stamps
• Limited-edition sheet celebrates with fireworks and fire-breathing images from festivals across the UK
• First time Royal Mail celebrates Lunar New Year
There’s nothing quite like the experience of a Chinese New Year – a two-week cultural celebration full of colour, energy, and, of course, plenty of fireworks.
To mark the start of the Year of the Dragon, Royal Mail is issuing a limited-edition sheet on 20 January, featuring celebrations by Chinese communities around the UK alongside 10 self-adhesive 1st Class Fireworks stamps.
Stephen Agar, Royal Mail spokesperson, said: “Royal Mail is delighted to be marking the Lunar New Year with this sheet of stamps, to be part of the celebrations that are held in the UK and worldwide.”
London’s Chinatown welcomes visitors with dozens of lanterns and a giant banner, while the famous Chinese Arch is the focus for celebrations in Liverpool. Other cities featured include Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast.
The sheet also features four large illustrations of blue water dragons winding their way around the outside of the sheet, while a further five different dragons illustrate the symbolic elements of Water, Air, Fire, Metal and Earth.  
Those born under the sign of the Dragon share many characteristics. They can be innovative, self-assured and enterprising. They are also brave but do have a tendency to show a quick temper.

London boasts one of the oldest Chinese communities in the UK with records showing some of the earliest settlers in Bow, east London.

Today there are significant Chinese communities in cities all across the country, most notably; London; Manchester; Birmingham; Liverpool; Sheffield and Edinburgh – with most featuring a Chinatown - an area rich in Chinese culture and business. The original Chinatown was situated in Liverpool – however this was destroyed during the Second World War.

In 2010, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated the number of Chinese born residents in the UK at 111,000.

Cantonese is the predominant language spoken by Chinese living in the UK, followed by Mandarin Chinese and Hakka Chinese.
Ends

Natasha Ayivor
Royal Mail Press Office
100 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0HQ
Tel: 0207 449 8250
www.royalmail.com/stamps

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Lunar New Year Commemorative Sheet is available in 350 local Post Offices across the UK, online at www.royalmail.com/dragon and from Royal Mail Tallents House (tel. 08457 641 641), 21 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9PB.