China Post issued two new stamps on Tuesday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the first province-level autonomous region in China.

Depicting the Naadam Festival, a major holiday featuring Mongolian sports that dates back to the time of Genghis Khan (1162-1227), and traditional Mongolian costumes, the stamps sold at 1.2 yuan (15 US cents) each.

The stamps were officially launched in Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia, and Ulanhot, where the autonomous regime came into being on May 1, 1947.

The 300 sets in Ulanhot were sold out, while in Hohhot, more than 200 people bought the stamps.

The stamp book "Sixty Glorious Years" was also published, with the copies numbered 0060, 1947, 2007 to be auctioned later.

With an area of 1.18 million square kilometers, Inner Mongolia covers 12 percent of China's territory and is the third biggest of China's provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. Its population was 23.86 million at the end of 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2007)