early 1949 it became necessary to stamps and overprints with a range of values, again going up to $5,000,000. On 1 May 1949, the government took a desperate step, which was to print undenominated stamps, sold at the daily rate of the yuan. They then adopted a silver yuan standard, and overprinted still more stamps as well as reissuing the Sun Yat-sen design valued in 1-500 cents. By August, the deteriorating political situation had caught up with the postal system, and the Nationalists' last issues on the mainland were two of a planned series of pictorial designs denominated in silver yuan. Following the loss of mainland China, stamps are restricted to Taiwan and surrounding islands. Since 2008, stamps are inscribed "Republic of China (Taiwan)". Manchukuo Japan created a puppet state called Manchukuo out of north-east China in 1932. Although the state ceased to exist after the Second World War, it managed during its lifetime to create many interesting cultural chimeras, including stamps. The designs of Manchukuo stamps show the influence of both countries. In fact, the 1944 Friendship Set was printed in both Chinese and Japanese. People's Republic of China The postal system of the People's Republic of China was established as the General Postal Administration in Beijing in 1949, growing out of the posts that had been operating for several years in the communist controlled areas. Development was slow; by 1949 there was only 1 post office for every 370 square kilometers. Several of the communist controlled areas continued to operate their own postal systems; most were ordered to stop selling regional stamp issues by June 30, 1950, while the Northeast Liberation Area and the Port Arthur and Dairen Post and Telegraph Administration continued to use their own stamps (due to the different currencies) until the end of 1950. Postage stamps The unified administration issued its first postage stamps on October 8, 1949, consisting of a set of four depicting a lantern and the Gate of Heavenly Peace, commemorating the 1st session of the Chinese People's Consultative Political Conference. This issue also inaugurated the innovative practice of numbering each type of stamp issued, usually in the lower left corner. For instance, the $800 value in the Dove of Peace issue of 1950 is numbered "5.3-2", indicating that it is the second stamp of three in the fifth stamp issue of China. The practice is only followed for commemorative and