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First Day Cover text for Hong Kong, China – Austria Joint Issue on Fireworks

Watching a fireworks display is a captivating experience shared by people from different cultures. Whether on New Year’s Day, on national holidays or on other occasions, a fireworks extravaganza is always synonymous with celebration and exaltation. Hongkong Post and Austrian Post have jointly issued a set of two HK$5 stamps on fireworks, marking the seventh joint stamp issue released by Hongkong Post with other postal administrations.

The stamp showing Hong Kong presents a panoramic view of Victoria Harbour, one of the most famous natural harbours in the world. Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula, on either side of the harbour, are glamorously lit. With the night sky splendidly illuminated by colourful fireworks, this dazzling city certainly lives up to its reputation as the "Pearl of the Orient".

The stamp showing Austria features a fireworks display in the Vienna Prater, a hunting preserve for the aristocracy opened to the public in 1766. The stamp is dominated by a Giant Ferris Wheel, the most visible landmark in Vienna, erected in 1897 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Emperor Franz Josef I. The jolly mood of the park is perfectly reflected by the bursting fireworks.

"Crystal Fabric" has been applied to the two HK$50 stamps on the Stamp Sheetlet to highlight the gorgeous bursts of fireworks. This unique material makes light refraction possible and produces a glittering effect that cannot be found in other ordinary stamps, a collectible not to be missed.

The First Day Cover design shows a globe-shaped firework against a night sky and its refraction in the sparkling facets of the shimmering crystals surrounding it.