Some years ago, I was invited as the only foreign plenary session speaker to give a one-hour lecture to the Chinese Military Society of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine held at a luxurious Hotspring Resort with extensive meeting facilities in the suburb of Beijing.
I understand that about a thousand military personnel who worked in military medical hospitals and field care from all over China gathered for the meeting. All participants must wear their army, navy, and air force uniforms.
I felt honoured to be presented with two commemorative sets of stamps. One was specially designed and produced to record the progress and advances in clinical laboratory analyses and diagnosis in China. Regrettably, I must have misplaced it and cannot locate it for the time being. Another set was an album of 56 stamps featuring each of the 56 ethnic groups of China in traditional ethnic costumes to show unity despite the diversity and commemorate 50 years of establishment of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to 1999.
The hardcover album contains a large sheet of 56 different stamps, and 56 pages of information, each featuring one photo, one painting, and an article on the customs and other features of one ethnic group. Please enlarge and enjoy the view of individual stamps.
After the meeting, the organisers were most gracious and generous to give me a conducted tour of places not usually visited by ordinary tourists. I had the opportunity of visiting the Hutongs of Beijing and had lunch in one of the Sihe Yuan, a set of four houses built in the shape of a square with a shared open courtyard that used to be the abode of a royal family related to the Qing Dynasty Emperor. I was also brought to a large mountain cave with a deep interior to view illuminated stalactites and stalagmites.