100 years ago: first airmail flight in China
China’s first airmail flight took to the skies on 7 May 1920. The test was performed by English veterans who wanted to demonstrate the commercial advantages of the aircraft deployed, a former Handley Page O/7 bomber, on the route between Beijing and Tianjin. Onboard was an unconfirmed number of letters (at most 35, according to philatelists) with bilingual stamps of the national postal service.
A total of six double-deckers that had been sold to China after the war and assembled in Nanyuan formed the basis of the first combined postal service which from 1 – 10 July 1921 connected Beijing with Shanghai, flying to Jinan on the Yellow River and completing the longer part of the journey by train.
Indeed, the mail arrived on the following day, but increasing political instability soon brought the service to a halt. (ah)