The four new postage stamps, which are themed on the four sections of the painting, have a 4 yuan (59 US cents) value in total. A souvenir sheet that includes them all is also available.

Li Pizheng, deputy managing director of China Post, says high-tech printing technology was used to ensure the different layers of landscapes in the painting were clearly depicted in the stamps.

The Forbidden City was China's royal palace from 1420 to 1911. It now houses nearly 2 million cultural relics, including 53,000 ancient paintings from the collections of emperors. The old collections provide inspiration for Chinese modern designers to develop cultural products such as postal stamps.