Postcrossing Blog

In 2026, the port city of Keelung in northern Taiwan celebrates an incredible milestone: 400 years of history shaped by the sea and by connections with the world. This milestone highlights Keelung’s long-standing role as a port city with deep historical and global ties. To mark the anniversary, the YM Oceanic Culture & Art Museum (in Keelung), together with the Egret Cultural & Educational Foundation, is organizing a special mail art exhibition — and they’re inviting postcrossers everywhere to be part of it! 💙

So here’s the invitation: send a postcard to Keelung with your blessings for its 400th anniversary! Your message (and your creativity) will join hundreds of others, bringing voices from around the world together in one place.

The project is called “Keelung Trade Wind—KEELUNG 400 Mail Art”. The main exhibition about this special anniversary runs from February 3 to May 3, 2026, and postcards sent by Postcrossing members between January and April 30 will later be displayed at the museum from July to December 31, 2026 (after approval by the museum).

What should you send? Anything that feels meaningful and celebratory: a handwritten message, a postcard photo from your hometown, a small illustration, a bit of creative mail art… it’s all welcome.

The museum kindly asks that you begin your postcard like a little letter addressed to them. For example:

Dear YM Oceanic Culture & Art Museum,
Congratulations on Keelung’s 400th anniversary…

After that, it’s up to you. You can send a wish for Keelung, share a greeting from your corner of the world, or write a message about what postcards (and connections!) mean to you. And since this celebration is so closely tied to the sea and to Keelung’s history as a port city, you can also take inspiration from that: write about the ocean, ships, coastlines, lighthouses, sea winds, or the idea of trade routes and journeys. If your own town has a connection to the sea — a harbor, a river, fishing traditions, maritime industries, or stories of people coming and going — feel free to mention it too. It’s a lovely way to connect Keelung’s story with your own.

To help the museum identify your card as part of this collaboration, please add “Postcrossing”, your Postcrossing username, and your country somewhere on the card. And because these postcards will be publicly displayed (and later digitized so we can share the outcome of the project with the community), we recommend keeping your message postcard-style and avoiding personal contact details like email, phone number, address, etc.

Ready to join in? Here is the mailing address:

YM Oceanic Culture & Art Museum
(KEELUNG 400 Mail Art Exhibition)
No. 4, Gangxi St.,
Ren’ai Dist., Keelung City 200002
Taiwan (R.O.C.)

And if you happen to be in Taiwan (or planning a trip there!), you can also visit the museum throughout 2026 and see this celebration in person. From February 3 to December 31, 2026, Postcrossers can enjoy a special ticket price of NT$100 by showing either your Postcrossing profile page on your phone (logged in, with your username visible), or a postcard with a Postcrossing ID written on it at the 1F service counter. Keelung residents (with valid ID) receive free admission.

A small note for planning: the museum is scheduled to close temporarily for exhibition changeover during May–June 2026 (exact dates will be announced by the museum).

We love this kind of collaboration — postcards as tiny ambassadors, travelling across borders to become part of a shared celebration. If you decide to send one, we hope you’ll have fun with it… and we’d love to hear about it too. Happy 400th anniversary, Keelung! 🌊

PS: More information about the museum (including opening times and transportation options) can be checked here or on the Museum’s Facebook page.

Recently, Paulo and I spent some time in Taiwan, and like any postcrossers out there, our first order of business was to locate nice postcards and stamps. 😍 Who better to recommend these than the local postcrossers? So, I asked on the forum and received quite a few tips from the locals — more than I could visit! One of them came from Ying-Han (aka henna168) who recommended Chu Entry Time, a postcard café! I was intrigued by the idea, so of course we needed to go check it out!

The fun starts outside, even before you get in, because the menu is all displayed in illustrated postcards! One picks the cards featuring the food or drinks you’d like to have, and then take them to the staff inside. The postcards are for you to keep, which is a really nice touch.

One special thing about Chu Entry Time is that you can mail postcards to someone in the future: you write, address and stamp your postcards, pay the fee and then put them on the box of the week you want them to be mailed. And then the staff will mail these for you when the time comes! So in theory, you can pre-send all your friend’s birthday cards for the whole year, or even a few years in advance.

It’s not the first time we hear of something like this, but it was the first time we saw a “postcard café” in real life, which was pretty cool. While we were waiting for our drinks, Paulo was browsing some magazines from a shelf and randomly stumbled on one that mentioned Postcrossing. What are the odds, eh?! 😊

There was also a really nice selection of illustrated postcards and other handmade crafts that you could buy, a table with rubberstamps for anyone to just use, and a few friendly cats that came to you for cuddles. It was just lovely all around, and I wish there were more of these in the world!

For more pictures, you can check out their Instagram account.

Do you know of other postcard-themed cafés out there? Tell us all about them! 😍

Remember last year, when we announced a group of Taiwan members were preparing a special Postcrossing cancellation mark? They’re doing it again this year, for their fifth annual Postcrossing meetup! :)

This time, the meetup will take place in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. This Friday (June 7th), there will be a postcard exhibition at the National Taiwan University 1st Student Activity Centre, and then on Saturday, the meetup itself will take place.

Weital has once again designed a fantastic cancellation stamp for the occasion:

Isn’t it special?

Dodd, the meeting organiser, and all the other attendants are happy to share this special Postcrossing cancellation with other postcrossers and are therefore offering to send a postcard to the 50 members who first leave a comment below!* – All postcards have now been given away, thanks everyone!

For more information on this event, please check the meetup’s forum page.

(*) This means that if you’re one of the first 50 commenters, we’ll share your address with the member from Taiwan who will send you a postcard.

On this week’s spotlight interview, we feature Wei Yi, (aka WY), from Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He’s an avid collector and also likes studying history and international relations – and has a very cute daughter who is as excited to receive postcards as he is!

Here is what he had to say:

How did you come across Postcrossing? What got you hooked?

Firstly, I must say thank you to whom recommended me to have this opportunity to be interviewed by Postcrossing.

I actually heard about Postcrossing for the first time while browsing a Japanese blog circa 2007. The blogger showed her postcard collection through Postcrossing. However, I formally joined Postcrossing in 2008, the same year my elder daughter was born. Since then I’ve been hooked on sending & receiving postcards – until now. Sometimes I send more than a postcard to satisfy the receivers, and sometimes I receive something unexpected including banknotes, maps, brochures…etc. That’s why Postcrossing is so fascinating. My elder daughter “joined” Postcrossing together with me when she was 2. She’s more excited than me while receiving postcards!

Show us your mailbox, your mailman/mailwoman, your postoffice or the place where you post or keep your postcards!

Here are some photos modeled by my elder daughter showing Taiwan’s postboxes, our letterbox and where we enjoy reading the postcards.

The green postbox is for domestic ordinary mail. The 2 holes are for local (Kaohsiung) & outgoing (other cities & counties in Taiwan). The red one is for international airmail & domestic prompt delivery. The number “812” showing on the Postboxes is the zip code of Siaogang District, Kaohsiung.

Our letterbox always brings a lot of joy while opening it. Of course, we feel disappointed in case it’s empty or bills only…

We like to read postcards freely on the floor. After reading we store them in shoe boxes and simply catalogue them by continents (Asia/Oceania, Europe/Africa & Americas).

Show and tell us about your favorite received postcard to date, and what makes it special.

It’s really hard to decide which ones are our favorite among more than 1000 postcards received. We don’t set any wantlist or preference on the profile. Every card we get are our favorites and we appreciate every sender. If I really need to pick a special one, I think the one (SI-29912) sent by Paulo, the founder of Postcrossing, is very representative and unique. It’s really my honor to receive the postcard from him while he stayed in Slovenia.

I’d also like to share some splendid postcards received by private swap. They’re from & DiannaMacau of Macau and sevvie of Finland.

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

My favorite part of the Postcrossing process is sending and receiving. It’s also the basic spirit and principal of Postcrossing project. Waiting & cards getting expired are also important parts of Postcrossing process from my point of view. I know it makes us upset, but I think it’s also a part of our life. Nothing is always smooth and successful.

Have you been surprised by any place that you have received a postcard from or sent a postcard to?

Most of the postcards are sent/received to/from European countries & United States. However, I still had the opportunity to receive postcards from Lebanon, Guatemala & UAE and sent to Oman, the Bahamas and Brunei. They’re the special countries to me so far.

A group of Taiwan members is organising the fourth Postcrossing meeting in their country – and they’ve been preparing a special surprise for the event… a Postcrossing cancellation mark!

The meetup will be held on May 26th, in the city of Taichung, in Central Tawain. The group was granted permission to set up a temporary Post Office, and use a custom-made cancellation mark, which was drawn by weital. Here’s how it will look:

Isn’t it exciting?

Dodd, the meeting organiser, and all the other attendants are happy to have the first special Postcrossing cancellation, and would like to share it with 50 postcrossers around the world!

Thank you to everyone who responded – the 50 postcards have all been assigned!

For more information on this event, please check the meetup’s forum page.