T15 -- Chinese Mountaineering Expedition Reascending Zhumulangma Feng

Located on the border of China and Nepal, Mt. Everest, height 8,848 m, is famous for being the highest peak in the world.  To Nepalese Mt. Everest is known as Sagarmatha (goddess of the Universe).  To the Tibetans it's known as Mt. Quomolongma or Chomolungma ("The Third Goddess" in Tibetan).  To the Chinese, it is known as Zhumulangma Feng (pinyin translation from Tibetan).

Mt. Everest is named after the British after Sir George Everest, a Welshman and the Surveyor General of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India and the man in charge of mapping India between 1830 and 1843.   However, Everest himself most likely never saw the mountain named after him.

On May 25, 1960, three young Chinese mountaineers, Wang Fu-chou (王富州), Kombu (贡布) and Chu Yin-hua (屈银华) reached the summit of Mt. Everest, accomplishing the task of conquering the world's highest peak from its difficult northern slopes for the first time in mankind's history.

On May 27, 1975, a mixed team of nine climbers, eight Tibetan and one Chinese, reached the summit from the northern slopes again.  Tibetan woman, Phantog (潘多) and eight men (索南罗布、罗则、候生福、桑珠、大平措、贡嘎巴桑、次仁多吉、阿布钦) created the new world record then for the largest mixed team that conquered Everest's summit.   Phantog became the first woman to reach the summit from the Tibetan side; and the second woman to summit Everest, losing this honor to Junko Tabei by only a few days.                 

To commemorate this achievement, a set of three stamps was issued on September 26, 1975.

(3-1) 43 fen, The majestic Zhumulangma Feng  美丽的珠穆朗瑪峰

(3-2) 8 fen, With a strong revolutionary will and bravery to climb the world 's highest peak     胸怀革命壮志勇攀世界高峰

(3-3) 8 fen, The five-star red flag again flying over the summit of the earth
                    五星红旗再次飘扬在地球之巅

(3-1)【The majestic Zhumulangma Feng】Mt Everest, height 8,848 m, is the highest mountain in the world.  The stamp showed the snow covered summit of Mt Everest in bright sunlight.

(3-2)【With a strong revolutionary will and bravery to climb the world 's highest peak】 With Mt Everest in the background, the stamp depicted the nine members of the 1975 Climbing Team.  The women in front is Phantog, the first woman to reach the summit from the Tibetan side.

(3-3)【The five-star red flag again flying over the summit of the earth】The mountain climbing team raised the China national flag on the summit of Mt Everest.  The team stayed on the top for as long as 70 minutes to complete some scientific research.

T15 – Chinese Mountaineering Expedition Reascending Zhumulangma Feng            中国登山队再次登上珠穆朗瑪峰 Issue Date: 1975.9.26
Serial Number:	T15
Scott No.:	1239-1241
Michel No.:	1249-1251
Number of stamps in Set:	3
Denomination:	43 fen for stamp 1 8 fen for stamp 2, 3.
Quantity of Issue:	2,000,000 for stamp 1 10,000,000 for stamp 2, 3.
Perforation:	P11 X 11½ for stamp 1, 3 P11½ X 11 for stamp 2
Sheet Composition:	50 (5 X 10) for stamp 1, 3 50 (10 X 5) for stamp 2
Size of stamps:	40 X 30 mm for stamp 1, 3 30 X 40 mm for stamp 2
Designer:	Lu Tianjiao, Song Huimin  卢天骄, 宋惠民
Printing Process:	Photogravure
Printing House:	Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works