Youngsters at the Canadian embassy's gingerbread party were eager to sample the sweet treats. Bridget O'Donnell / China Daily

A two-year collaboration between the Danish and Chinese postal systems bore fruit last weekend, when a pair of intaglio-engraved stamps was officially issued in Nanjing.

Engraving stamps from steel plates is a fading art, as cheaper offset printing and digital ways to deliver postage and mail dominate the market. But engraved stamps represent a great tradition of fine design and craftsmanship, says Lene Reipuert, the head of stamp production for Denmark Post. She and Martin Pingel, the Danish agency's design chief, were in China last week for the Nanjing ceremony.

The two stamps represent centuries-old inventions astronomers used to survey the night skies. The "abridged armilla" from Ming-dynasty China and the "great equatorial armillary sphere" of 16th-century Denmark are etched in fine detail on the newly minted Chinese stamps, valued at 1.20 yuan, and two 6-kroner stamps that will be issued in Denmark on Jan 4.

China Post turned to Denmark for help after stamp engravers there won an international prize for a series of Hans Christian Andersen stamps. Stories by that Danish writer are very popular in China, and the culmination of the program will be a series of four Danish stamps honoring Andersen designed in China, which will be issued in Copenhagen next June.

Also on hand last week for the Nanjing ceremony: Deng Huiguo, stamp issuance director for China Post; Susanne Hyldelund, Danish consul general in Shanghai; Zang Ronglin, general manager of Jiangsu Post Company: and Lou Qun, vice-mayor of Nanjing.

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After having signed the Accession Treaty with the European Union on Dec 9, Croatia is now invited to take part in EU coordniation meetings as an observer. Croatian Ambassador to China Ante Simonic joined EU Ambassador Markus Ederer in Beijing for his first heads of mission meeting last week. Croatia will become the 28th member state of the European Union on July 1, 2013.

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The drama of the bullfighting culture has come to life in a new exhibition at Beijing's Cervantes Institute, and Spain's Ambassador to China Eugenio Bregolat-Obiols was on hand earlier this month for a preview. "Bullfighting from Behind the Barrier" features 24 photographs and a video inspired by the world that surrounds this ancient spectator sport. The preview tour was followed by a panel discussion, which included Chinese professor of literature and popular culture Zhang Yiwu from Peking University.

The exhibition and a companion film festival continues in Beijing until March, when the show will move on to Shanghai.

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The embassy of Sweden organized a reception in which many Chinese writers and poets as well as a Swedish writers' delegation attended. The reception paid tribute to the Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer, who is the laureate of the 2011 Nobel prize of literature, and featured prize awards to the winners of the Swedish literary translation competition.

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Australia was honored at the annual Sina.com Education Gala earleir this month, winning a coveted 'Weibo Fashion Award' in the international exchange category. The award recognizes the success of two microblog sites in attracting thousands of subscribers (Imagine Australia Weibo: over 102,000 fans; AEI Weibo: over 10,400 fans).

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Canadian ambassador David Mulroney hosted a fellowship reception featuring holiday gingerbread at his residence last Sunday for the Canadians and other foreign-passport holders who attended the Sunday morning Mass there.

Send embassy news to mike.peters.cd@gmail.com.

(China Daily 12/18/2011 page5)