Tenth anniversary of the Young Pioneers

The People's Republic of China issued six commemoratives on 10 November 1959 for the tenth anniversary of the Young Pioneers, founded in October 1949 in the first weeks of the republic. Domfil catalogues the set as 959.60/65 under the heading «10 Aniversario del escultismo chino».

The first value carries the organisation's emblem, a flaming torch and a gold star on red. The other five show Pioneers at their activities: a bugler beside the banner with tents behind, a girl walking to school, a girl reading a rain gauge among meteorological instruments, a boy carrying a tree to plant, and a girl skating. Two values are 4 fen and four are 8 fen, all photogravure combined with recess, 25 × 30 mm, comb perforation 11½, and all issued without gum — the practice of Chinese post at the time.

The subjects are the ones the Pioneer issues of the whole Eastern bloc share: the bugle, the tree planting, the technical hobby. Chinese Scouting itself had by then moved to Taiwan with the Republic, and continued issuing there under the name Boy Scouts of China, so the two claims to the movement's name ran in parallel on either side of the strait.

Further references are Michel CN 485–490, Scott CN 457–462, Yvert CN 1243–1248 and Stanley Gibbons CN 1862–1867.