Perfect pair: A gold and silver stamp sheetlet on the ram and monkey will be issued on January 4.

Special stamps for the upcoming Year of the Monkey will be issued on January 4.

The colourful stamps will highlight the lively spirit of the creature and incorporate traditional Chinese paper cutting techniques to bring out the festive spirit of the Lunar New Year.

Other goodies available include mint stamps, souvenir sheets, imperforated stamp sheetlets, presentation packs, picture cards and first-day covers.

A gold and silver stamp sheetlet on two of the 12 signs of the Chinese horoscope - the Ram and the Monkey - will also be issued.

The stamps are embossed and hot-foiled respectively with genuine 22-carat gold/99.9% pure silver and genuine 24-carat gold/99.9% pure silver. The stamps and sheetlet are designed by Bon Kwan and are printed in Holland and France respectively.

The stamps and sheetlet will be displayed at the General, Tsim Sha Tsui, Tsuen Wan and Sha Tin Central Post Offices from December 15. Advance orders for servicing self-provided souvenir covers will be accepted at all post offices from December 15 to 20.

All post offices (except mobile ones) will open on January 4 from 9am to 2pm. The public hall of the HK Post Philatelic Bureau will also be open from 9am to 2pm for date-stamping covers with the Philatelic Bureau pictorial postmark, the GPO-1 postmark and other special postmarks.