In 1879, the Manchu government built a telegraph line connecting Peitang Fort (at the mouth of Taku Harbor) with Tientsin for experiment and for military needs only. Two years later on December 28, 1881 the Telegraph Service was first opened to public on the completion of the Tientsin-Shanghai telegraph line. On December 28, 1956 it completed its 75th year of service. In commemoration of the occasion, a set of commemorative stamps was issued with the telecommunication insignia as the central design, a radio tower as the background, and wire poles as the frame, symbolic of the never ceasing operation of this service, day and night and the long distances it can cover.