"For many people, stamps are used to prepay postage; seldom do they realize the cultural significance that such tiny stamps have come to represent," said Joanna Choi, acting Postmaster General for Hong Kong, at the special stamp issuing ceremony.

"The Chinese idioms are the essence of the language," Choi said. "With this set of special stamps, we aim to promote philately and arouse the interest of Hong Kong children and students in Chinese culture."

Among the special stamps are four carefully chosen Chinese idioms on family harmony, learning, personal development and community relations, namely "Xiangjing Rubin," (meaning "respect makes successful marriage") "Kaijuan Youyi," (meaning "reading is always rewarding") "Wenji Qiwu," (meaning "rise at cockcrow and practice kung fu, or prepare for success") and "Tongzhou Gongji" (meaning "cross the river in the same boat," or pull together in times of trouble).

The stamps' design combines traditional Chinese dress and personal adornment with modern cartoon painting techniques.

The idiom stories date to the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC-475 BC).

Michael Fung, designer of the special stamps, said he himself also learned a lot about Chinese idioms in his 9-month design effort.

"The four idioms were chosen because they concentrate the core value of Chinese culture and they are simple to express in images, " said Fung.