Regular government postal service in China is known from the Zhou dynasty in the 1st millennium BC. During the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan in the 12th century, China was integrated into the much larger Mongolian Örtöö system. Marco Polo reported that there were 10,000 post stages during that time.
In 1865, under the Quing Dynasty, the Irishman Robert Hart developed a mail service for the Imperial Maritime Customs, initially to carry consular mail to and from treaty ports. This service was opened to the public on 1 May 1878, and China’s first postage stamps, the “Large Dragons”, were issued to handle payment. The stamps were inscribed “CHINA” in both Latin and Chinese characters, and denominated in candareens.
Three stamps were issued with the face value of 1, 3 and 5 candareens. Todays stamps is a beautiful cancelled (blue) copy of the 1 candareen issue. CV is 125 $.