My friend Yue sent this lovely New Year's card from Xiamen, enclosed in the cachet shown above. The gorgeous bird stamps on the cachet were part of a special issue last year commemorating the birds of China. The explanation on the back says that of the 9,000 bird species in the world, 1,200 are found in China. Of those, 100 are unique to China. Among them are the birds on these stamps: Taiwan Blue Magpie, Koslow's Bunting, Yellow-Bellied Tragopan, Black-Fronted Laughing Thrush, Golden Pheasant, and White-Tailed Ground Jay. 
