This evening while going through a collection of old posters I came across a poster that I collected in early 1990 while studying abroad in Chengdu. The low quality paper is already yellowing and has a slight tear, otherwise it is in pretty good condition. One of a printing of only 10,000 copies, it originally sold for ¥.08. For a city of over 7 million people, that is a very small number. I imagine that there might only be a few of these still in existence.
The poster, however, is not one that I will be framing and hanging on my wall any time soon. It is a poster commemorating the “capital’s defenders,” “the great wall of steel,” “the radiant splendor of the Republic’s protectors”—the soldiers that fought on June 4th, 1989.
The medal in the upper left corner reads “Captial’s Protector” and on the star is the Tiananmen Gate. Below it is a gun and the date: 1989.6.
I thought I’d take a picture and post it here. I imagine sooner or later I’ll contact Stefan Landsberger and see if he has one in his collection. If not, I think I should make a donation. (If anyone knows of a collection where this might be better donated, please let me know.)