On January 26, 1921, an agent of the Taoyin of Kirin-Pinkiang went to the Harbin post office with an armed guard and ordered it closed. Branch offices and the railway transport system for the despatch of letters and parcels were closed at the same time. For some days residents along the line of the railway were completely isolated and could neither receive nor send letters, newspapers and official documents. The Russian mail which arrived in Harbin on January 27, 28 and 29, was not accepted by the Chinese postal agents at the station. Subsequently it was taken by Russians to the Chinese post office where it lay until February Ist, unopened. A great deal of inconvenience was caused by the fact that the Chinese post office had not the authority to transfer money to or from Russia and that no provision had been made to take over this branch of the business of the Russian post office when the Taoyin ordered the latter closed. Mail sent from Japan, South Manchuria and the Kuantung Peninsula was retained at Changchun and in some cases returned to Japan because the Japanese officials were authorized to deliver to the Russian postal system and without authority could not turn the mail over to the Chinese. At present such correspondence arriving at Kuanchengtze is sent to a private shop where the public must call and examine it.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.