page_title: French post offices in China
section_title: Run by French Indochina
hierarchical_section_title: French post offices in China / Operation / Run by French Indochina
caption_attribution_description: English: French stamps for use in Beihai (Pak-Hoi). Français&#160;: Timbres français à utiliser dans Beihai (Pak-Hoi). 中文（简体）‎: 北海在民国年间，按照广东省的政策，使用粤音邮政式拼写城市名称“Pak Hoi”。 中文（繁體）‎: 北海在民國年間，按照廣東省的政策，使用粵音郵政式拼寫城市名稱「Pak Hoi」。 Русский: Надпечатанные почтовые марки Французского Индокитая для использования в Бэйхае (Китай), 1903 (Скотт №4) и 1906 (Скотт №21)
context_page_description: The French post offices in China were among the post offices maintained by foreign powers in China from the mid-19th century until 1922. The first French Post Office in China opened in 1862. Initially, the French government used ordinary French postage stamps for these offices. These forerunner stamps can be shown to have been sold or used in China only by a postmark. Stamps used at Shanghai prior to 1876, for example, can only be identified by diamond-shaped cancel made of a type referred to as a “losange à gros chiffres” with the numbers "5104" in the center of the cancel.
context_section_description: The post offices run by French Indochina differed from the other French Post Offices in China in a number of areas.  Initially, the general issues of the Paris-run French Offices in China c. 1902-1904 were used, and these can be found with postmarks applied by the Indochinese offices.  But shortly thereafter, stamps were issued with overprints specific to the office that issued them.  For instance, the Canton office issued stamps overprinted “CANTON” rather than “CHINE.”  Seven such Indochinese post offices had these overprints (here written as they appeared on the stamps) along with their opening dates:
  1900
  Hoi Hao
  Kouang Tchéou Wan
  Yunnan Fou
  1901
  Canton
  1902
  Pakhoi
  1903
  Mongtseu
  Tchongking
  One additional way that the Indochinese offices differed from the other French Post Offices in China was that their issues were all overprints applied to the then-current stamps of French Indochina, rather than to the stamps of France.  The Paris-run offices would not accept mail franked with unoverprinted stamps of French Indochina, but the Indochinese run-offices are known to have done so.   For this reason, French Indochina stamps are sometimes found legitimately used with cancels from one of their Chinese offices.  Stamps from the Indochinese offices in China can likewise be found with cancels from Indochina proper, although these were likely applied at Hanoi or other locations through which mail had to pass, (i.e. these are essentially paquebot cancels.) - From 1923, remainder stocks of the Indochinese office issues were used up in Indochina and Kouang Tchéou Wan, see below. 
  The Indochinese Offices in France also sometimes opened sub-post offices within the area they served.  For instance, the Canton office would eventually open six branches within the area it served.  The specific branch a Canton stamp was used at can sometimes be seen in the postmark.  Earlier Canton postmarks read “Canton / Chine” whereas later cancels include a letter from A to F to show at which branch of the Canton office they were used.
caption: Two stamps of the French colony of Indochine overprinted for use in Pak-Hoi (Beihai).
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