尋回失落名字的國度｜太平洋島國瑙埃羅編寫日期｜2026/8/2

在南太平洋，除了大溪地（即法屬玻利尼西亞）外很難有我們熟悉的名字，但這個區域近年卻是中台兩岸政府外交角力的場所外更是中國與澳洲和美國惡鬥勢力的舞台，從每次不甚起眼的新聞不難發現中國每次都得嘗勝利，這或多或少是因為除了左傾的澳洲不斷退縮外南太平洋各國都短視地向錢看，今次要說的惱嚕便是教科書式案例之一。

The name Nauru believes that no one will remember them except the Taiwanese (translated as “Nauru, Republic of” by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan)). This island is located slightly north of the South Pacific, now is the third smallest country in the world after the Vatican and Monaco.

Recover their traditional demonym｜From Nauru to Naoero

The national population, including residents living in Australia, is only little bit more than 10,000. She has administered by Germany,

惱嚕(Nauru)這個名字相信除了台灣人（台灣外交部翻譯作「諾魯共和國」）之外應該沒什麼人會記得他們了， 1 這個處於南太平洋稍北的島嶼在現今緊接梵帝岡和摩納哥之外是世界第三小國家，全國人口包括在澳洲生活的居民就僅有一萬多人左右。她經歷過德國、英國和澳洲的統治，在第二次世界大戰期間，自1942年8月26日正式被日本侵佔直到戰爭結束。戰後聯合國再次委托澳洲、紐西蘭和英國共同管理這個僅21平方千米的小島，最終在1968年1月31日獲得獨立。 雖然澳洲在惱嚕的僅有資源磷酸鹽吃相稍為難看，但由始至終澳洲和惱嚕無論是獨立前和後一直都關係密切，在磷酸鹽開採淨盡之後澳洲在當地建立難民營以暫時收容非法入境澳洲的外國人， 根據歷史記載，惱嚕第一枚郵票係以直接使用德屬馬紹爾群島郵票，當然之後有最經典的英國海馬高面值加蓋「惱嚕」郵票，這都是英國接管惱嚕後在1916至23年間發行。 According to historical records, the first stamp of Nauru was using German Marshall Islands stamps. Here is the classic British seahorse high-value overprinted with ‘NAURU’, which were issued between 1916 to 23 after Britain took over the Nauru. 我的僅有一幅由惱嚕寄出的集郵信封，這封郵件是一位愛爾蘭記者在周遊列國時順道寄的，他的正職雖然是記者但似乎收集明信片和到訪世界各國才是他的職業。 My only stamped envelope sent from Nauru, which was sent by an Irish journalist while travelling around the world. Although his full-time job is a journalist, it seems that collecting postcards and visiting countries around the world are his profession. 香港在上世紀80年代就已經是國際城市聯繫世界每一角落，上次我介紹過綠角群島的維多利亞港景緻小型張，惱嚕其實更早在1980年以惱嚕航空10週年紀念郵票和香港拉上關係。 In the 1980s, Hong Kong was already an international city connecting every corner of the world. I introduced the Cabo Verde souviner sheet issued on 1994 features Victoria Harbour, Nauru actually had a relationship with Hong Kong earlier in 1980 with commemorative stamps of the 10th anniversary of Air Nauru. 作為換取澳洲實則援助的代價。惟問題就在這裡了，惱嚕在開採磷酸鹽的風光日子並未有為將來一旦礦藏枯竭後儲蓄又或嘗試投資其他產業，以致在近年的日子需要靠澳洲的援助。然而，其實澳洲援助惱嚕尚算合理，畢竟取之於惱嚕用之於惱嚕，但澳洲的援助也有終止的一天，而惱嚕便不時以政治事件換取邦交國援助也是很難看的食相，就例如2019年因澳洲關閉惱嚕難民營失去澳洲援助要向中華民國（台灣）乞討援助便是經典的例子，結果是台灣方面予以拒絕令中國以強大資金掠奪台灣與惱嚕的外交關係，間接令中國在南太平洋建立的後花園更趨完整。 我覺得惱嚕這個國家真的是「鳥不生蛋」的地方，莫說是經濟投資和旅遊，甚至其郵票也沒什麼趣味性可言。但我首先想講明用「鳥不生蛋」形容惱嚕並不確切，因為磷酸鹽正正就是由鳥糞日積月累下經過千年演化而成，而惱嚕也是因為其地理位置處於太平洋的中心，也成為以海為居的太平洋海鳥休息地。祗是要去惱嚕卻是十分轉折，除了有直航貨運航綫是連接澳洲外，其他客運航綫僅飛往南太平洋其他國家，也就是說不論是商務或者旅遊觀光，從歐洲出發也要乘搭3至4個航段，但以這個21平方千米的沒什麼奇特地理特徵小島而言，除了為去完全球每一個角落的人外對任何人都無吸引的理由去那處。 除開他們向不同的國家以條件換取援助的事，惱嚕在國際社會完全無任何影響力，國際新聞從來都沒有他們一席位。2026年5月13日，惱嚕的國會通過草案擬以傳統瑙埃羅語的名字瑙埃羅(Naoero)取代由英國人以「難以發音」為理由命名的惱嚕英文名稱「Nauru」。當地總統擬稍後對國名更換進行全民公投，惟至7月29日卻以「身份認同」為理由直接更換國家名稱為瑙埃羅共和國(Republic of Naoero)，同時向聯合國報備。 其實惱嚕的官方郵政服務惱嚕郵政(Nauru Post)正式名稱早在數年前就改稱瑙埃羅郵政服務公司(Naoero Postal Service Corporation)，在寄出的郵件上也可以找到用這個名字的郵戳，惟至2026年1月發行的《惱嚕人從楚克回歸80週年》(80th Anniversary of Nauruan Return from Chuuk)郵票仍然標註惱嚕「Nauru」的國家名稱以至惱嚕人(Nauruan)的稱呼，這亦是最後一枚印有惱嚕為國名的郵票；7月發行的《磷酸鹽礦移交21週年》(21st Anniversary of Ronphos Handover)郵票上國家終於改成瑙埃羅「Naoero」。

Britain and Australia separately. During World War II, she occupied by Japan from August 26, 1942 until the end of the war. After the war, the United Nations once again entrusted Australia,

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New Zealand and the United Kingdom to jointly manage this 21 square kilometres small island, and finally gained independence on January 31, 1968.

Although the business of phosphate in Nauru is not a good look, Australia and Nauru always had a close relationship from the beginning to nowadays, both before and after independence. After the phosphate mining was exhausted, Australia established a local refugee camp to temporarily accommodate foreigners who entered Australia illegally in exchange for Australia’s actual assistance.

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But the problem is when phosphate mining days they have not saved or tried to invest in other industries in the future if the mineral deposits are exhausted, so it needs Australian assistance in recent years. However, in fact Australia pay the aid to Nauru is still reasonable. As it is taken from Nauru and used for Nauru, but aid of Australia will be terminated one day, and it is also greedy for Nauru to exchange political events for aid from diplomatic relations from time to time.

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For example in 2019, Australia close the Nauru refugee camp that caysed Nauru lost aid from Australia, Nauru turn to ask mony from the Republic of China (Taiwan) begging for help. As a result Taiwan refused it and China plunder the diplomatic relations of Taiwan and Nauru with powerful funds, which indirectly made China’s back garden in the South Pacific more complete.

I think Nauru is really a place where “in the middle of nowhere”. Not to mention economic investment and tourism, even its stamps are not interesting. But first of all, I would like to say that it is not accurate to describe Nauru as “in the middle of nowhere”, because phosphate is evolved from bird droppings accumulated over time for thousands of years, and Nauru is also a resting place for Pacific seabirds because of its geographical location in the centre of the Pacific Ocean. Anyway only some quite complicate routes to Nauru, except direct cargo frights connecting Australia, other passenger routes only fly to other South Pacific countries. That is to say, whether it is business or tourism, you have to take 3 to 4 flight segments from Europe, but there is no strange geographical features in this 21 square kilometre. As far as the island is concerned, there is no reason to attract anyone to go there except for people who go to every corner of the ball.

Except for their conditional aid from different countries, Nauru has no influence in the international community, and they have never had a seat in the international press. On May 13, 2026, the Congress of Nanlu passed a draft to replace the English name Nauru named by the British on the grounds of ‘difficult to pronounce’ with the traditional Naoero name Naoero. The local president planned to hold a referendum on the change of national name later, but on July 29 he directly changed the name of the country to the ‘Republic of Naoero’ on the self-identity and reported to the United Nations at the same time.

In fact, the Nauru’s official postal service Nauru Post, was changed to Naoero Postal Service Corporation as their formal name in several years ago. The postmark with this name can also be found on the mail sent, but the latest stamp ‘80th Anniversary of Nauruan Return from Chuuk’ issued in 2026 still marked as Nauru. On July 2026, the first stamp bearing new country name ‘Naoero’ was issued for 21st Anniversary of Ronphos Handover.

由上至下｜1 1973年發行的惱嚕本地工藝郵票，可以看到那些製成品頗為原始，與相近的密克羅尼西亞群島相類似，底圖的地圖明確標示惱嚕在地球的位置；2 1968年印行的獨立紀念郵票，係由澳洲政府援助印刷，多年後澳洲再度出資，為東帝汶印刷獨立紀念郵票；3 如同不少南太平洋國家，惱嚕也在澳洲投資作為他們在這些大國後援基地，位於墨爾本的惱嚕大廈在1977年落成使用；4 2019年中華民國（台灣）總統蔡英文展開以「海洋民主之旅」為名的南太平洋島國訪問行程，惱嚕曾為此發行郵票，惟同年與中共建交後郵票在整個惱嚕突然消失。

From top to bottom｜1 The local artcraft stamp issued in 1973 shows those local products are quite primitive and similar to Micronesia Islands. The map on the bottom clearly indicates the position of Nauru on the earth. 2 The independent commemorative stamps printed in 1968 were supported by the Australian government. Many years later, Australia invested again to print independent commemorative stamps for Timor-Leste. 3 Like many South Pacific countries, Nauru also invested in Australia as their support base in these major countries, the Nauru House in Melbourne was completed and used in 1977. 4 In 2019, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Tsai Ing-wen launched a visit to the South Pacific countries in the name of ‘Oceans of Democracy’, Nauru issued a stamp for this purpose, but after the diplomatic relations with China in the same year, the stamps suddenly disappeared throughout Nauru.

遺忘了的35年｜厄立特尼亞的集郵紀錄編寫日期｜2026/6/16

雖然厄立特尼亞在1994年5月23日正式獨立，但美國駐厄立特尼亞領使館卻於上月23日在其社交網站貼文慶祝該國獨立35週年，顯然美國以及厄立特尼亞自身官方都是以戰爭勝利的1991年開始算起，不過無論如何這個紅海以西的長條型國家最令人難忘的是他們緊靠中國和俄羅斯的立場，仿是與世界為敵，事實上當初的獨立戰爭也是靠美國支持而成功。

I believe that many people have never heard of Eritrea, because it has never been in the field of vision of ordinary Hongkongese,

A forgotten 35 years｜Record of Eritrean philatelic service

but if say it is a country in the east of Ethiopia, it is probably imagined that it is. Eritrea was forcibly merged into the same country by Ethiopia in 1962, and before that,

我很相信不少人完全沒有聽過厄立特尼亞這個國家，因為牠不曾在一般香港人的視野之內，不過如果說埃塞俄比亞東方的一個國家，大概是想像到是那裡的了。事實上厄立特尼亞在1962年被埃塞俄比亞強行合併成同一國家，而在之前則可追朔至十九世紀中葉義大利入侵東非時期從埃塞俄比亞分割出來的一塊沿紅海海岸的土地。 厄立特尼亞和索馬利蘭與及北非的利比亞成為非洲甚至世界少數的義大利殖民地，這枚郵票就名正言順講明「殖民地」：1934年在拿坡里舉辦的第二屆殖民地藝術展覽，畫面上的駱駝就是經常出現在郵票上。 Eritrea, Somaliland and Libya in North Africa became one of the few Italian colonies in Africa and even the world. This stamp clearly explained the ‘colony’: the 2nd colonial art exhibition held in Napoli in 1934, camels on the picture often appear on the Italian Eritrea stamps. 埃塞俄比亞在兼併厄立特尼亞後理所當然發行關於這個地區的郵票，阿蕯布是厄立特尼亞區域第二大城市；同一時間厄立特尼亞人民解放陣線亦有發行郵票宣示主權。 Ethiopia naturally issued stamps about the region after the annexation of Eritrea. Assab is the second largest city in Eritrea; at the same time, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front also issued stamps to declare sovereignty. 埃塞俄比亞在十九世紀的歐洲殖民浪潮下保住了自己的政權免淪為義大利的殖民國家，卻把厄立特尼亞分割出去，直到第二次世界大戰前的1936年埃塞俄比亞終落入義大利手中與厄立特尼亞和索馬里成為義屬東非一部分，惟5年後義屬東非落入英國但英國未有打算歸併入英屬索馬里蘭，故直到1952年厄立特尼亞與埃塞俄比亞組成聯邦甚至被後者吞併。 厄立特尼亞人民解放陣線持續反抗近40年，在1991年推翻門格斯圖政府後獲得獨立公投的機會，結果不出所料絕大部分民眾支持厄立特尼亞獨立，1993年5月24日自埃國獨立，由於厄立特尼亞位於埃國東面整個紅海沿岸，埃國從此之後失去出海口成為內陸國家，海路貨物僅能靠連繫吉布提的古董鐵路綫運輸。 歷史就說完了，當然厄立特尼亞的歷史也不是這樣簡短，然而重點是崇尚馬克思列寧主義的厄立特尼亞人民解放陣線當年也得到美國和中國支持，在取得政權後卻在國內實行北韓式的高壓統治，雖然曾經承諾有多黨制和總統大選，卻一如一些共產主義國家及其「殖民地」般出爾反爾從不兌現，甚至推翻了多黨制的承諾。直到目前伊薩亞斯．阿費沃爾基(Isaias Afwerki)就任總統33年，惟他的統治方式除了人權組織外從未受到歐美「自由國家」質疑，近年更是與中國、北韓和俄羅斯等的「現代邪惡軸心」同一陣綫，祗是厄立特尼亞在國際政治舞台上毫不起眼，沒什麼人會當作一回事。 沒什麼人當作一回事的似乎還有他們的郵票，當很多人都以為這些新獨立而又「缺乏人文歷史」的國家會把發行郵票的權利賣給集郵代理時厄立特尼亞卻選擇自己計劃發行郵票，除了獨立戰爭後的一段時間由「土炮」印刷廠印刷郵票外，自獨立初期就已經固定由義大利國家鑄幣局和印刷局(Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, IPZS)包攬印刷全部郵票，這和內戰前夕的索馬里蘭十分類似，概因這兩地昔日都是義大利殖民地而衍生的經濟往來。不過這種關係也不持續太久，厄立特尼亞的郵票如同其他國家一樣絕大部分都給荷蘭Joh. Enschedé承印，不過有較特別的是千禧年前後發行的商業味頗重的動物小版張卻是由已結束的英國The House of Questa印刷；或者真的是這個國家無人知曉，他們的郵票發行至2016年的《25週年獨立日》(The 25th Anniversary Silver Jubilee of the Liberation of Eritrea)紀念郵票後竟然無疾而終， 厄立特尼亞獨立後便積極加入國際和地區組織，前身是1981年成立的地區優惠貿易區在1994年改組成東部和南部非洲共同市場(COMESA)，厄立特尼亞竟然就是創會會員。 After Eritrea became independent, it actively joined international and regional organisations. The country is a founded mermber of The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) formed in 1994 was a Preferential Trade Area which had existed since 1981. 這和我很早以前介紹過的東帝汶沒有太大分別。 早年厄立特尼亞郵電部印行的首日封都有印上他們的地址，我在2008年嘗試寫信去他們處探個究竟，也順道寄一個貼有郵票的信封給他們蓋銷作紀錄。不多久之後在信箱收到他們的回覆，除了有一張厄立特尼亞郵票簡介和訂購方式外，也有回信提及舊幣制埃塞俄比亞比爾(Birr)已停止流通，信封上的郵票僅作蓋銷退回。既然已知通訊地址，在稍後我再次將貼有現行使用中的立克法(Nakfa)幣值的原圖片和信封寄往當地蓋銷，如第一次的信封一樣完美漂亮。 其實厄立特尼亞發行過的郵票不多，縱使不時出現了國內的風景、動物以至人民生活，對不少人來說可說是非常陌生而缺乏興趣，但喜出望外的是稱兄道弟的中國在2013年「贈送」了一組郵票給厄立特尼亞以紀念兩國建交20週年， 非洲的扶輪社｜郵票市場上不時出現一些可疑的非洲國家各種題材「郵票」，它們的共同特徵是印上非政府組織的標誌，待集郵者或不知情收藏家購買，這些非法盜用國名印刷「郵票」在萬國郵政聯盟都有相關通告。 Rotary Club in Africa｜‘Stamps’ commonly feature logo of NGOs with various themes of some suspicious African countries appear in the stamp market from time to time, which attrative to junior stamp collectors or uninformed collectors. All of these ‘stamps’ illegally using the name of the country, and there are relevant notices by UPU. 當中有一枚係2017年登錄世界文化遺產的「非洲現代城市：阿斯馬拉」(Asmera: a Modernist City of Africa)，整個世界遺產包含了義大利殖民時期所建的包浩斯風格建築，經過二次世界大戰和獨立戰爭仍然保持完好。

it can be traced back to a piece of land along the Red Sea coast that was divided from Ethiopia during the Italian invasion of East Africa in the mid-19th century. Ethiopia kept its regime from becoming an Italian colonial country under the wave of European colonialism in the 19th century, but separated Eritrea until 1936, before World War II, when Ethiopia finally fell into the hands of Italy and became a righteous part of East Africa with Eritrea and Somaliland, five years later, East Africa was annexed to Britain, they had no intention of annexing it to British Somariland, so it was not until 1952 that Eritrea and Ethiopia formed a federation or even annexed by the latter.

The Eritrean People’s Liberation Front continued to resist for nearly 40 years, after overthrowing the Mengistu government in 1991, it got the opportunity to vote on independence. As expected, the vast majority of the people supported the independence of Eritrea. On May 24, 1993, it became independent from Ethiopia. Eritrea was located on the entire Red Sea coast to the east of Ethiopia, she has since lost its access to the sea and became a landlocked country. The sea freight can only be transported by the antique railway connecting to Djibouti.

The history story is over. Of course, the history of Eritrea is not so short. However, the key point is that the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, which advocates Marxism-Leninism, was also supported by the United States and China at that time. After gaining power, it implemented North Korean-style high-pressure rule in the country, although it once promised a multi-party system and presidential election. But like some communist countries and their ‘colonies’, they never fulfilled their promises, and even overturned the multi-party system. Until now, Isaias Afwerki has been president for 33 years, but his ruling style has never been questioned by freedom European countries and the United States except for human rights organisations. In recent years, he has been on the same line with the ‘CRINK’ such as China, North Korea and Russia. It is only Eritrea on the international political stage. It’s inconspicuous, and no one will take it as a matter.

No people talke note on their stamps too, when many people thought that these newly independent and ‘lacking humanistic history’ countries would sell the right to issue stamps to philatelic agents, Eritrea chose its own plan to issue stamps, except for the period after the Revolutionary War, which was printed by the local printing factory. In addition to stamps, all stamps have been printed by Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS) since the beginning of independence, which is very similar to Somariland on the eve of the Civil War. It seems because these two places used to be Italian colonies and economic exchanges. However, this relationship will not last long. Eritrean stamps are given to Dutch printer Joh. Enschedé just like other countries, but what’s more special is that the commercial animal small sheets issued around the millennium are printed by the completed British printer Questa. Without any reason their stamps were issued until 2016, ‘The 25th Anniversary Silver Jubilee of the Liberation of Eritrea’ commemorative issue and souviner sheet, and then no more stamp issue, which is as well as Timor-Leste I introduced a long time ago.

In the early years, the first day covers issued by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Eritrea were printed with their addresses. In 2008, I tried to write them, and also sent them an stamped envelope for postmarking to my records. After not a long time, I received back their reply in the mailbox, in addition to a brief introduction and ordering method of Eritrean stamps, and a reply mentioning that the old currency Ethiopian Birr had stopped circulating, and the stamps on the envelope were only returned under cover with postmarked. After the correspondence address is known, I sent more maxicard and stamped envelope with the value of the Nakfa currency again later, all of them as well as first envelope is as perfect and beautiful.

Even if domestic scenery, animals and even people’s lives appear from time to time, it can be said that it is very strange and lacks interest for many people, but what is overjoyed is that China ‘presented’ a set of stamps to Eritrea in 2013 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between two countries. One of the stamps is the ‘Asmera: a Modernist City of Africa’ which was registered as a World Heritage Site in 2017. The site contains Bauhaus-style buildings built during the Italian colonial period, which are still intact after World War II and the War of Independence.

厄立特尼亞在千禧年前後似乎受到集郵代理的贊助印行了很普通但又有「銷售保證」的動物小版張和小型張，幸好這些動物都是非洲東部荒漠中找尋得到，這裡信封正背面都是貼上這種郵票，分別是1998年雀鳥小版張上其中三枚短尾鵰(Terathopius ecaudatus)、紅嘴奎利亞雀(Quelea quelea)、蛇鷲(Sagittarius serpentarius)和2001年世界自然基金會郵票土狼(Proteles cristatus)。至於原圖片我選擇了較易找到明信片的紅蛇鵜(Anhinga rufa)，這種雀鳥普遍地在撤哈拉沙漠以南的廣闊非洲大陸生存，因而有不少歐洲動物園早在二十世紀初便開始飼養，明信片發行商更是看中了牠的頸部能優雅地彎曲故大量印行明信片，這一幅是戰後法國出版商所印行。

Eritrea seems to be sponsored by philatelic agencies around the millennium to print very common but ‘sales guarantee’ animal small sheets and souviner sheets. Fortunately, these animals can be found in the eastern desert. The stamps affixed on front and back of the envelope here are Bateleur, Red-billed Quelea, Secretarybird issued on 1998 WWF stamp Aardwolf issued on the 2001. The left side maxicard, I chose African Darter which is easier to find postcards. This kind of bird generally lives on the south Sahara of vast African continent, so many European zoos began to raise it as early as the early 20th century. Postcard publishers were even more liked that its neck could be bent elegantly, so they printed a large number of postcards, this one was printed by French publisher in post-war period.

人民的廣場｜捷克利貝雷茨與奧洛穆茨編寫日期｜2026/1/20

在歐洲，每個都市都會有最少一個大廣場以供舉行慶祝活動或者作為周末市集，如果要與香港作比較的話，鄉下祠堂前空地也可以算作類似的場所，然而規模略顯細小；至於市區或新市鎮便沒有這種廣場了，僅能至稍為偏偶的公園或遊樂場才有這類型空間。今次我們離開曾經介紹的比利時，到達東歐的捷克尋訪兩個城市的廣場。

People’s squares｜Liberec and Olomouc of Czechia

In Europe, at least one public square is built in the town centre whatever it is a small town or large city, for annual observances or weekend market. If compare with Hong Kong,

我們首先來到位於捷克北面的利貝雷茨，她在文獻中首次出現的是1348年，然而捷克北部地區在十二世紀至1918年期間由波希米亞王國擁有，故德意志人 (die Deutschen) 是這個時期的主要人口。正因如此儘管捷克語也是那裡的流行語言，德語仍然是該市和波希米亞地區被歸入捷克斯洛伐克前的第一語言。自1579年以來紡織業被引入昔日被稱為賴興貝格(Reichenberg)的利貝雷茨，從此迅速成為蘇德台地區的中心。 這座城市在十九世紀末迅速發展，包括市政廳(Liberecká radnice)、北波希米亞博物館(Severočeské muzeum)和蕯爾達劇院(Divadlo Františka Xavera Šaldy)等幾座新的壯觀建築都在這期間以新文藝復興風格建造，這是十九世紀常見的建築風格。新市政廳位處利貝雷茨歷史中心的貝內什博士廣場(Náměstí Dr. Edvarda Beneše)，建於1888至93年之間由維也納建築師Franz Neumann設計， 捷克郵政局在2025年發行的一張小型張係繪畫在利貝雷茨貝內什博士廣場向北眺望的風光，可見前方的海王星噴泉的欄柵、市政廳與西邊的民居，不過郵政局並未明言這小型張是否會系列發行。 The souviner sheet issued by the Czech Post Office in 2025 is a painting of the scenery overlooking the north of Dr. Edvarda Beneše Square, which shows the railing of the Neptune Fountain in front of it, the City Hall and the houses in western of the square. However, Post Office did not say whether the souviner sheet would be released in series. 位置與建於1599至1603年的舊市政廳相對。由於他是Friedrich von Schmidt建築團隊的員工，而Friedrich von Schmidt也是奧地利著名建築師團隊和維也納市政廳(Wiener Rathaus)的設計師，不意外地兩座建築的風格極為相似。 蕯爾達劇院現在位於市政廳的對面，但在1893年舊市政廳被拆除為海王星噴泉(Neptunovy kašny)之前，舊市政廳位於這兩座新建築的中間。這座由Gustav Sachers設計的劇院於1883年9月29日開幕，並命名為賴希恩貝格劇院(Reichenberger Stadttheater)。從開幕直到1945年，只有德語劇目才能在劇院上演，劇院隨後在1957年更名為蕯爾達劇院，以紀念捷克文學評論家、記者和作家František Xaver Šalda逝世20週年。 我們離開利貝雷茨向捷克的東南面進發，跨越赫拉德茨－克拉洛韋州與帕爾杜比采州後來到奧洛穆茨州(Olomoucký)的首府奧洛穆茨，雖然仍處於捷克境內但其歷史卻與利貝雷茨截然不同。她在九世紀時間便屬於大摩拉維亞公國，這可算是歐洲第一個非帝國國家，然而這公國存在不多於一世紀便被瓜分，除一部分歸併入上方利貝雷茨所在的波希米亞外，也有不少地方是獨立成為東法蘭克王國，及後整個歐洲中部大部分地區才都由奧匈帝國所佔領。 奧洛穆茨很早期就已經是大摩拉維亞國的中心，至1641年才因為瑞典人的佔據失去這個地位給南方城市布爾洛(Brno)。然而其宗教歷史卻較為悠久，1063年便成立奧洛穆茨教區並在1777年升級為總教區，至今係捷克的兩個總教區之一。就在升級為總教區前不久，一場黑死病席卷摩拉維亞， 捷克斯洛伐克也曾經在1955年發行過奧洛穆茨城鎮廣場上聖三柱和市政廳的郵票，這郵票原圖係來自Cyril Bouda所繪畫的俯視圖。 A stamp of Olomouc Upper Square issued in 1955 by Czechoslovakia, the bird-eye view picture originally painted by Cyril Bouda. 幸而瘟疫僅維持兩年終告平息，事後自1716年開始花了40年時間在奧洛穆茨市中心城鎮廣場(Horní náměstí)建成一座由當地藝術家與工匠以巴洛克風格雕塑的聖三柱(Sloup Nejsvětější Trojice)作為紀念，也是捷克境內最具規模的巴洛克式建築，2000年以中歐巴洛克藝術高峰時期最優秀例子之一登錄為世界文化遺產。 聖三柱的背後是歷史更為悠久的市政廳(Olomoucká radnice)，原於1261年奧洛穆茨從普熱米斯爾．奧托卡二世授予城市權後得到興建，自1378年開始花了近20多年才完成木建築，惟1417年卻被燒毀，然後僅用了3年時間重建成現今的石建築及天文鐘。雖然市政廳在第二次世界大戰中損毀，在1955年以原貌收復重建。

a small open space outside ancestral hall of each traditional villages is same usage to European city public squares. However there is no such open space is planned or built in urban area or new towns of New Territories, the most similar open space mostly inside town parks or playgrounds. In this article, we leave Belgium where I often introduced, and arrive Eastern European country Czechia for two cities public square.

First we visit Liberec, a city on the northern Czechia, the place first seen in literature is 1348, however the area of northern Czechia was owned by Kingdom of Bohemia during 12th century to 1918, and Deutsche (die Deutschen) is the main population in this peroid. As a result before the city and Bohemia area under Czechoslovak Republic, German is the first language in there, although čeština also popular language. Since 1579, weaving industry introduced to Liberec, where formerly called Reichenberg, it quickly became a centre of Sudety.

The city quickly developed in late 19th centry, couple of new spectacular buildings like Town Hall (Liberecká radnice), The North Bohemian Museum (Severočeské muzeum) and F. X. Šalda Theater (Divadlo Františka Xavera Šaldy) are built in Neo-Renaissance style, a common architectural style in 19th century. The new Town Hall located in the the history town centre of Liberec, Dr. Edvarda Beneše Square (Náměstí Dr. Edvarda Beneše). It was design by the Viennese architect Franz Neumann, under construction in 1888-1893, the location was opposite to old Town Hall built in 1599–1603. As Franz Neumann also a staff of Friedrich von Schmidt, a famous architect team of Austria and designer of Vienna Town Hall (Wiener Rathaus), no surprisingly two buildings are similar of their style.

F. X. Šalda Theater is located opposite to the Town Hall nowadays, but before the old Town Hall demolished rebild to the Neptune Fountain (Neptunovy kašny) on 1893, the old Town Hall is in the middle of these two new buildings short period. This Gustav Sachers designed theater named as Reichenberg Town Theater (Reichenberger Stadttheater) grand opened on September 29, 1883. Until 1945, only German plays can be shown in the theater and renamed as F. X. Šalda Theater on 1957 to commemorate 20th anniversary of death of František Xaver Šalda, a literary critic, journalist and writer of Czechia.

We left Liberec and headed for the southeast of the Czechia, across Hradec Králové (Královéhradecký) and Pardubice (Pardubický), and arrive Olomouc, the capital of Olomouc (Olomoucký). Although its area still in Czechia, its history is completely different from that of Liberec. She belonged to the Principality of Great Moravia in the 9th century, which was the first non-empired country in Europe, unforuntaly the principality was divided in less than a century. In addition to part of its annexed to Bohemia, where Liberec was located; and also there were many places that became independent as the Kingdom of the East Franks. Later the whole of Middle Europe was occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Olomouc was the centre of the Great Moravia very early on, and it was not until 1641 that it lost its position to the southern city Brno because of the Swedish occupation. However its religious history is relatively long. The diocese of Olomouc was established in 1063 and upgraded to archdiocese in 1777. It is still one of the two dioceses in Czechia nowadays.

Holy Trinity Column and City Hall of Olomouc appeared personal issue in 2024, which are issed as definitive stamps every year, however this series is not based on architecture. Because of the postage rate, I also used morden postcard to arrange maxicard like other Czech stamps.

每年都以常用郵票名義印行的個人化版張在2024年出現了奧洛穆茨聖三柱及市政廳，這個系列並非以建築作主題。因為郵資結構關係，如其他捷克郵票一樣我也製作了現代片原圖片。

Shortly before it was upgraded to the archdiocese, a Black Death swept through Great Moravia. Fortunately, the plague lasted for only two years and finally sided down. After that, it took 40 years since 1716 to build a Baroque style sculpture by local artists and craftsmen in Olomouc Upper Square (Horní náměstí) as a memorial, the sculpture called Holy Trinity Column (Sloup Nejsvětější Trojice) is also the largest Baroque building in Czechia. In 2000, it was disignated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the most exceptional examples of the apogee of central European Baroque artistic expression.

Behind the Holy Trinity Column is the City Hall (Olomoucká radnice), which was originally built after Přemysl Otakar II granted the right to the city in 1261. It took nearly 20 years to complete the wooden building from 1378, but it was burned down in 1417, and then it took only three years to rebuild the current stone building and astronomical clock. Although the building was damaged in World War II, it was restored and rebuilt in 1955.

伸延閱讀｜
從根特開始｜探索比利時不同市鎮的中央廣場

遷徙的當下｜列支敦士登．直布羅陀聯合發行《幼年遊隼》 編寫日期｜2026/1/5

隨著收集範圍的變遷，在2025年僅收集了3組新發行的雀鳥郵票，其一是奧地利從2024年開始的「BirdLife」年度雀鳥系列，另外兩組都是兩國聯合發行的雀鳥郵票，分別是中國．蕯摩亞為建交50週年而發行的《白馬雞與齒咀鳩》與及列支敦士登．直布羅陀兩個歐洲小國聯合發行的《遷徙的當下－幼年遊隼》，兩組都同是11月上旬發行。

Migration yesterday and today｜The young Peregrine Falcon

Following the change of collecting range, only 3 series of bird theme issued on 2025 are collected, the first one is ‘BirdLife’ series which is new yearly Austrian bird theme series begins from 2024.

我想不少人會感到困惑為何新一年開始文章會有一堆長長的英文，這個我稍為用少許文字講一下：由今篇文章開始部分文章會以中、英文雙語試驗，如果效果良好的話除了會繼續雙語外更會計劃合併英文版網誌到此，詳細情形我會在Soapbox內解釋說明。 遊隼 (Falco peregrinus) 在歐洲大陸不是稀有物種，在地中海地區，除了一些是留鳥外牠們在夏季在該地區的西部繁殖，從葡萄牙到希臘，還有北非的摩洛哥北部到突尼西亞。而在冬季，牠們會遷移到撤哈拉沙漠以南的大草原；同一時間生活在歐亞大陸北方的遊隼則遷徙到地中海東部地區和中歐，如亞洲的近東或歐洲中部的德國和丹麥。遊隼以其驚人的速度與視力而聞名，最高時速可達每小時200英里，是世界上最快的鳥食性雀鳥和動物；因其俯衝時的飛行速度，牠們同時擁有比人類強勁8倍的視力。 列支敦士登位於歐洲中部，它位於阿爾卑斯山北部附近。過去，那些在這裡剛出生的第一年遊隼將遵循傳統的遷徙路線，從中歐地區開始沿著阿爾卑斯山飛行到歐洲西南部，在直布羅陀作短暫休息後經過直布羅陀海峽： 今次列支敦士登似乎主導了兩國全系列的設計，以至印刷都在列國Gutenberg AG進行，惟繪圖和設計均來自係直布羅陀一方，兩枚小型張同時篏有兩國的郵票在內。 這是穿越地中海到北非和撒哈拉以南地區的最短路線。不幸的是由於近年來的氣候變化，如今列支敦士登的遊隼混雜候鳥和留鳥，因為這裡全年都有足夠的食物以供生活。 這套聯合發行的郵票記錄了這次遷徙運動：兩枚列支敦士登郵票分別描繪了一隻年輕的獵鷹準備這次漫長的旅程與及兩隻成年獵鷹沿著阿爾卑斯山飛回列支敦士登；直布羅陀兩枚則描寫正在休息和飛越直布羅陀巖的遊隼。

The next two also are joint issues, one is China - Samoa to commemorate 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, White Eared Pheasant and Tooth-billed Pigeon are selected separately; and two small nations in Europe, Liechtenstein - Gibraltar also issue young Peregrine Falcon stamps, these two issues are released on early-November. In this post I try to write an article to introduce this Liechtenstein - Gibraltar joint issue in Chinese and English subtitles, it is first bilingual article on this website, if the feedback sounds postive I will write more such articles, and furthermore I will plan to combine the English website ‘Philatelic of Birds’ here.

Peregrine Falcon is not rare species in continental Europe, except some of them are resident (another word is ‘non-migratory’), in Mediterranean Sea area they are breeding in west part in summer, from Portugal to Greece, and also northern Morocco to Tunisia, south-west bank of the sea. While in winter the migratory falcons will migrate to sub-Sahara area, meanwhile those breeding in northern Eurasia area falcons will migrate to eastern Mediterranean Sea area and middle Europe, such as Near East of Asia or Germany and Denmark. Peregrine Falcon renowned for its speed and keen eyesight, the highest speed can be maximum 200 miles per hour, which is the fastest avivore and animal in the world； and as the high-diving speed, their eyesight estimated to be eight times sharper than that of humans.

Liechtenstein located in the middle continental Europe, it sits near north part of Alps. In the past, those Liechtenstein’s new born first year falcons will follow the traditional migratory route,

All products of the issue seem arranged by Philatelie Liechtenstein, while the printer Gutenberg AG is operating by them, illustrator Jonathan Pointer and designer Stephen Perera are come from Gibraltar, two souviner sheets also attached one of Liechtenstein and Gibraltar stamp.

it begins from middle Europe area then flies along the Alps to south-west Europe, after a short rest in Gibraltar the falcons pass Gibraltar Strait, the shortest way of crossing Mediterranean Sea to north Africa and sub-Sahara area. Unforunately due to climate change in recent years, Peregrine Falcon in Liechtenstein mixed with migratory and resident nowadays, as there is enough food to be found in whole year.

4 illustrations of this joint issue stamp set is recorded this migratory movement: two of Liechtenstein stamps are illustrated a young falcon perpare its long journey and two adults flying along Alps back to Liechtenstein. And Gibraltar twos are taking rest and flying over Gibraltar Rock separately.

外高加索觀鳥活動｜阿美尼亞鳥類郵票短篇重寫日期｜2026/4/11

位處歐亞大陸中心點的高加索地區雖然正式來說僅有三個國家，錯縱複雜的飛地和分離活動卻令地緣政局十分緊張。不過由於高加索地區夾在裏海和黑海中間，成為候鳥在中亞地區由北向南徙的走廊之一。可惜三國之中只有阿美尼亞才不時印行雀鳥郵票和比較可靠的集郵服務，那就專用一篇文章介紹他們的雀鳥郵封和原圖片。

Birdwatching in Caucasus｜Short notes of Armenia’s bird stamps

Although there are only three countries in the South Caucasus : Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, it is because of a pile of smoggy history and relations that geopolitics has become complicated.

雖然外高加索地區僅有阿美尼亞、亞塞拜疆和格魯吉亞3個國家，但卻是因為一堆烏煙瘴氣的歷史和關係令地緣政治變得複雜，國中有國、你有我的飛地然後我又有你的飛地，甚或由俄羅斯支持的叛離份子建立的國家南奧塞梯和阿布哈茲，這些錯縱複雜的國度我有另文介紹過了，故我今次純粹介紹阿美尼亞在2007至19年間所印行的雀鳥郵票。 2019年以歐羅巴系列發行的 1 家燕 (Hirundo rustica) 和2014年的 2 戴勝 (Upupa epops) 我在其他文章也介紹過了，然而總結是僅有後期的4種雀鳥有吸引我去製作原圖片， 三個郵封我都是選擇同一款票多貼數枚以避免貼其他款式的郵票，2014年的一組郵票是鳥與花為一組，花的一枚是石竹 (Dianthus gabrielianae)，至於2011年那一封出現的黃色貼紙係經過奧地利時加貼。 I chose to put several more same stamps on the three covers to avoid pasting other themes of stamps. A set of stamps in 2014 was mixed with bird and flowes, the flower one was a Rainbow Pink. The yellow sticker that appeared in 2011 one, was added when the mail passed through Austria. 至於郵封則全部都有製作，留意2007年的一個雖然解像度稍低，但也可以看到郵戳是上一代更換前蘇聯時期鋼製郵戳款式。 4 大山雀 (Parus major) 以清脆且規律的叫聲吸引愛鳥一族，由於其廣泛分佈歐亞非三個大陸，牠是各地家庭後花園的常客，只要裝置一些食物鳥屋和小水池便會見到牠們到訪。大山雀被分為11種亞種，高加索地區和西北伊朗的通常是P. m. karelini。 3 藍喉歌鴝 (Luscinia svecica) 同樣以清脆悅耳的叫聲橫掃歐亞大陸，其廣泛分佈於東歐至整個俄羅斯包括高加索地區之間，以及挪威沿岸甚至阿拉斯加都有其蹤影。這種美麗的嗚禽在秋冬季令飛至赤道以北撤哈拉沙漠以南、阿拉伯半島、印度次大陸和東海沿岸過冬，為當地冬天帶來生氣。藍喉歌鴝活躍範圍之廣令牠們分成多種亞種，L. s. magna是活躍於高加索地區的一種，其藍色羽毛不帶白點和橙色羽毛偏紅，並且身型較指明亞種巨大。 禿鷲 (Aegypius monachus) 係歐亞大陸分佈甚廣的猛禽，惟其僅生活在北回歸綫以北至赤道一帶區域，僅東亞地區深入蒙古國以至西伯利亞南部的溫帶地區作為留鳥生活。在南高加索地區以阿美尼亞東部和阿塞拜疆西邊高原作為禿鷲遷徙的走廊，以獵食腐肉而聞名，因而對多種病毒免疫的禿鷲主要在伊朗北面和南俄羅斯高山群，即大小高加索山脈作為棲息地。雖然禿鷲分佈廣闊，在2007年的調查中南高加索地區僅餘阿美尼亞東面高原仍有紀錄，而有報告指當地尚有非法捕獵活動，至於西歐地區則受到誤食被放置毒餌的動物屍體而滅絕，這些陷阱大多數是引誘野狗或農村入侵動物，致使禿鷲現在是評為近危級別。

There are countries in the country, and even South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the countries established by Russian-backed rebels. I have introduced these complicated countries in another article, so this time I will purely introduce the bird stamps printed by Armenia from 2007 to 2019.

I have also introduced 1 Barn Swallow released by the Europa series in 2019 and 2 Eurasian Hoopoe in 2014 in other articles. However, the summary is that only four birds in the later stage attracted me to make the original pictures. As for the postage, all of them have been produced. Note that although the resolution of the 2007 one is slightly lower, it can also be seen that the postmark is the previous generation to replace the steel postmark style of the former Soviet Union.

4 Great Tit attracts bird lovers with their crisp and regular calls, because they are widely distributed in the three continents of Eurasia and Africa, they are regular visitors to the back gardens of families around the world. As long as some food bird houses and small pools are installed, they will visit. The Great Tits are divided into 11 subspecies, and the Caucasus and northwestern Iran one usually calls P. m. karelini.

3 Bluethroat also famous in Eurasia with its crisp and pleasant call. It is widely distributed from Eastern Europe to the whole of Russia, including the Caucasus region, and its trace is found along the Norwegian coast and even Alaska. This beautiful bird flies north of the equator to the south of the Hara Desert, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and the coast of the East China Sea in autumn and winter, bringing vitality to the local winter. The wide range of activity of the Bluethroat makes them divided into a variety of subspecies. L. s. magna is active in the Caucasus region, its blue feathers have no white dots and orange feathers are red, and its body is more huge than the specified subspecies.

Although Cinereous Vulture is one of ‘bird of prey’ widely distributed in Eurasia, they only live in the area north of the northern return to the equator, and only in East Asia deep into Mongolia to the temperate areas of southern Siberia as a resident bird. In the South Caucasus region, the eastern Armenia and western plateaus of Azerbaijan are the corridors for vultures to migrate. They mainly live in the high mountains of northern Iran and southern Russia, that is, the large and small Caucasus Mountains. Vultures are famous for hunting carrion, so they are immune to a variety of viruses. Although vultures are widely distributed, in the 2007 survey, only the eastern plateau of Armenia is still recorded in the South Caucasus, and there are reports that there are still illegal hunting activities in the area. As for the Western Europe region, it is extincted by the accidental eating of animal corpses placed with poison bait. Most of these traps are to lure wild dogs or rural invading animals. As a result, Cinereous Vulture now rated as Near-threatened.

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伸延閱讀｜
示巴女王的信使｜戴勝
似曾相識燕歸來｜被遺忘的他們

年經郵票｜羅馬尼亞世界自然遺產：多瑙河三角洲 重寫日期｜2026/1/5

很多人都可能對羅馬尼亞郵票感覺冷感，自共產年代一直不斷發行各類型不同郵票，且有海量蓋銷票流向集郵市場，無知的集郵者便穿鑿附會些奇妙的理論把包括羅馬尼亞在內的東歐郵票說成不值得收藏的商業郵票。在天下烏鴉一樣黑的情況下，羅馬尼亞郵票也不是那麼庸俗，至少他們每年一度的《多瑙河三角洲》系列比英美法大國郵票更值得擁有。

Annual scriptures｜Protected wildlife in Romanian reserves

In each year, Romfilatelia recalls the richness of the natural heritage of Romania by introducing into circulation a postage stamp issue dedicated to the species of pelicans living in their country,

每年羅馬尼亞集郵商店都會發行多套自然生物郵票以介紹國內豐富的自然資源，2015年他們挑選了鵜鶘作為《多瑙河三角洲》(Fauna ocrotită din rezervaţiile româneşti)系列郵票的主角。多瑙河三角洲濕地保護區在1990年建立，並在翌年登錄成為世界自然遺產，至2015年正值保護區建立25週年，系列郵票分別挑選了羅馬尼亞國鳥之一白鵜鶘 (Pelecanus onocrotalus) 和卷羽鵜鶘 (Pelecanus crispus) 作為今次郵票主題。 白鵜鶘在撰寫文章一刻在紅色名錄中處於無危 (Least threatened) 級別，牠們除了大多是候鳥外， 嗚鳥的世界｜羅馬尼亞每年都會發行數套雀鳥郵票，有些如企鵝、鸚鵡等直接是與他們無關，同是在2015年發行的《嗚禽》(Păsări cântătoare)幸運地都是歐洲大陸常見物種，而且還同時發行原圖片。 Universe of songbirds｜Number of bird theme issues are released by Romfilatelia each years, however some of them like penguins or parrots are no related to Romania. The one as above on envelope which is a set of 4 stamps with maxicards “Songbirds” released on 2015, all species are easy to be found in the country. 一些白鵜鶘全年居住在印度西部和撒哈拉以南地區。在非繁殖季節，白鵜鶘在撒哈拉以南地區的稀樹草原以及印度西北部和東部廣泛出歿。直至每年初夏白鵜鶘都會向北遷徙，牠們主要在東歐到歐亞大陸中部繁殖，而東歐邊陲的多瑙河三角洲是重要的繁殖地區之一，在每個繁殖季節，這裡發現鵜鶘種群總數量多達一半的雀鳥。 整套郵票另一種鵜鶘是卷羽鵜鶘，我想香港集郵者頗為熟悉了，因為2006年通用郵票最高面值的50元郵票正是卷羽鵜鶘。不幸地因為棲息地破壞、非法捕獵與人類活動卷羽鵜鶘自二十世紀後數量一直下降，現在在紅色名錄中已經是近危級別。卷羽鵜鶘絕大部份都全年聚居於歐亞大陸的俄羅斯領土，並且深入蒙古西部範圍。然而相對於留鳥，雖然同樣於歐亞大陸中部繁殖，但至深秋期間會遷徙至波斯灣和阿曼灣的北部；與及尼羅河三角洲一帶地方。多瑙河三角洲對卷羽鵜鶘的重要性不單止是遷徙途中的休息地，更是罕見的留鳥聚腳地，據統計這裡曾有550對卷羽鵜鶘的記錄。 同時發行的小型張紙邊印著的徽號代表多瑙河三角洲保護區成立25週年及其屬於世界自然遺產。

as part of a broader topic consecrated to protected wildlife from Romanian reserves. The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve celebrates its 25th anniversary on 2015, the reserve developed on 1990 as known as Delta Dunării in Romanian is the only delta in the world entirely declared a biosphere reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991, it shelters an impressive number of pelicans from both species, these birds being declared a natural monument, the stamp series in 2015 shown two pelican species: the Great White Pelican, one of national birds of Romania and the Dalmatian Pelican.

Great White Pelican is not an endangered species in this moment, it mostly is migratory bird but some pelicans are resident living in western India and individual sub-Sahara area whole year. The pelicans widely to be found in savannas of sub-Sahara area, also north-west and east parts of India during non-breeding seasons. In each early-summers, the pelicans migrate to north breeding in eastern Europe to central continental of Euroasia, Danube Delta is one of important area to them for breeding, in each breeding seasons up to half of population of whole pelicans to be found here.

Another pelican shown in this stamp set is Dalmatian Pelican, it seems familiar to Hong Kong stamp collectors as it has apperered on the 2006 bird definitive stamps. Not same as Great White Pelican, the conservation status of Dalmatian Pelican now is near threatened, it is because the species’ numbers dramatically declined during the 20th century. Most reasons are living area be encroached and disappered, disturbance and poaching activities. Although most of its population survives in Russia, some of them can be found in Mongolia range. However Dalmatian Pelican also can be divided to resident and migratory bird separately, they breeding in central continental of Euroasia and migrate to northern part of Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, and also Nile Delta in non-breeding seasons. Danube Delta not only the important area for passage pelicans and it is rear settlement of resident pelicans, there is a record estimated about 550 nesting pairs.

The margin of the souvenir sheet issued meanwhile emphasizes the 25-year anniversary since the foundation of the reserve and its belonging to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

雀鳥的節日｜印度那加蘭邦犀鳥祭 重寫日期｜2026/2/22

世界各地都有各種奇奇怪怪的節慶活動，以雀鳥為主題的也非罕見，南亞地區的印度那加蘭邦就有犀鳥祭，巧合地「不遠處」的馬來西亞沙勞越同樣都有犀鳥節，不過兩者並沒有任何關係。這個對雀鳥和集郵愛好者極具趣味性的節日僅印度曾經為此發行甚至在慶祝會場開辦臨時郵局，馬來西亞一點也沒有有點令人失望了。

Festival of bird｜Hornbill Festival of Nagaland

Great Hornbill is active in the north of Southeast Asia, including the entire South Central Peninsula, the northern part of the Malay Peninsula to northeast India, Sumatra in western Indonesia, and the near-ocean zone of western India.

雙角犀鳥(Buceros bicornis)活躍於東南亞靠北的範圍，包括了整個中南半島、馬來半島的北部地區直至印度東北部、整個印尼西面的蘇門答臘， 東南亞與南亞國家都曾經有發行過雙角犀鳥郵票，但不意外其他沒有紀錄的國家也來揍一下熱鬧，這個自非洲南面贊比亞寄出的信封最右上角兩枚郵票正是雙角犀鳥。 Southeast Asian and South Asian countries have issued Great Hornbill stamps, but it is not surprising that other countries without records also came to beat the excitement. The two stamps in the uppermost corner of this envelope from Zambia in southern Africa are the Great Hornbill. 與及印度西部近海洋的地帶。雖活動範圍算是廣闊，惟棲息地喪失導至能夠令牠們安全活動的地方大量減少，而不是人類虐剎犀鳥，在現今雙角犀鳥被列為易危狀況。 因其地緣關係犀鳥卻成為馬來西亞沙勞越(Sarawak)與及印度那加蘭邦(Nagaland)的犀鳥祭的主角，然而這兩者並不如中國玉林荔枝狗肉節異常殘酷，純為一飽自己口腹而大肆殺害動物。在沙勞越的依班族，他們視當地生活的犀鳥為吉祥的使者，即神聖不可侵犯的物種，然而縱使如此在昔日最重點活動卻是獵殺以頭部作祭品，在官方嚴令禁止後這個傳統已經消失。 沙勞越依班族的犀鳥祭主角因物種的活動範圍而非雙角犀鳥，所以我就不太長篇介紹了。至於印度那加蘭邦的犀鳥祭卻是真的以雙角犀鳥作主角， 印度為紀念那加蘭邦建立50週年發行的郵票，信封印有雙角犀鳥圖案但並不是首日封。 Stamp issued by India to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Nagaland, the envelope printed with a picture of Great Hornbill but it is not a first day cover. 但不同部落卻有著不同的傳統活動，在印度官方統籌下變成統一的風格並固定在每年的12月1日至10日舉行，除了傳統的技藝活動如摔跤、射箭、舞蹈，或者製作手工藝品銷售，竟然還有選美環節甚至流行音樂表演，這個由傳統聯誼節日演變成多元文化活動旨在延伸以後不會消失。 在1963年建立的那加蘭邦至2013年剛好50週年，印度郵政局為此也發行了一枚郵票，圖案正是犀鳥祭圖騰，一般來說每個部落都會有自已設計和雕刻的圖騰，但必定會出現最少一隻雙角犀鳥。

Although their habit area of activities is considered vast, habitat loss has resulted in a significant reduction in the places where they can safely move. Rather than being abused by humans, the Great Hornbill is now classified as vulnerable.

Due to their geographical relationship, hornbills have become the protagonists of the festivals in Sarawak, Malaysia and Nagaland, India. These two are not as cruel as the Lychee Dog Meat Festival in Yulin of China, where animals are killed purely for the sake of filling their own stomachs. The Iban people in Sarawak regard the hornbills living there as messengers of good luck and a sacred and inviolable species. However, the most important activity was hunting and killing their heads as sacrifices in the past.

馬來西亞在2024年發行的犀鳥郵票其中一枚是雙角犀鳥，牠們主要生活在馬來半島的北部。 A hornbill stampsset issued by Malaysia in 2024 features the Great Hornbill, which mainly lives in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula.

This tradition has disappeared after the official ban.

The protagonist of the Hornbill Festival of the Iban people in Sarawak is not the Great Hornbill due to the species’ range of activities, so I won’t introduce it in a long way. As for the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland, India, the Great Hornbill is really the protagonist, but different tribes have different traditional activities. Under the coordination of Indian officials, it has become a unified style and is held from December 1st to 10th every year. In addition to traditional technical activities such as wrestling, archery, dancing, or making handicrafts for sale, there are also beauty pageants and even pop music performances.

犀鳥祭上使用的頭飾。 The warrior cap used in the Hornbill Festival.

This traditional social festival has evolved into a multicultural event and is intended to be extended and will not disappear in the future.

From the establishment of Nagaland in 1963 to the 50th anniversary of 2013, the post office of India also issued a stamp for this purpose. The pattern is the Hornbill Festival totem. Generally speaking, each totem will have its own design and carved totem, but there must be at least one Great Hornbill.