Collecting stamps at museums, scenic spots, exhibitions, and cultural-creative shops has gradually become a new way to travel. However, paid stamping on behalf of others, disguised traffic diversion, and uneven stamp quality have taken the fun out of stamp-collecting.

　　Phoenix Tower, Chongzheng Hall, Yanqing Palace, Baoning Palace, the West Garden of the Forbidden City, the Cultural and Museum Study... After stamping them in order, the various buildings leap onto the page... On the afternoon of May 5, at the Shenyang Palace Museum, Zhang Jiachen from Dalian was stamping one seal after another into a notebook.

　　"Stamp-collecting can preserve the memories of a trip; it has a strong sense of participation and ritual." Zhang Jiachen said that this notebook holds the many "marks" she has left at various scenic spots. Unlike the traditional photo check-in or mailing postcards, stamp-collecting at museums, scenic spots, exhibitions, and cultural-creative shops has gradually become a new way to travel.

　　However, the reporter learned that behind this trend, some people have started a business of stamping on behalf of others, and some check-in points require reaching a spending threshold or following an official account before one can stamp. In addition, uneven stamp quality and frequent design infringement have taken the fun out of stamp-collecting.

　　Commemorative and Ornamental Value Coexist

　　"Unlike ordinary cultural-creative products, every seal I stamp myself is full of sincerity and unique." Zhang Jiachen said that in 2023, while visiting the Shandong Provincial Museum, she found a place constantly surrounded by layers of tourists. On approaching, she learned that the tourists were waiting to stamp.

　　"The total number of seals in the museum can be found online, and collecting them all brings a great sense of achievement." After that museum visit, Zhang Jiachen also fell in love with stamp-collecting. She also writes next to the seals the time, place, and companions of each stamping. When she encounters relic seals or museum seals, she searches online for information about the relics and writes a few introductory lines in the blank space. Over the past year or so, Zhang Jiachen has filled four notebooks with stamps.

　　According to "Quark Data Reading: New Trends in Young People's Travel in 2024," in the first quarter of 2024, young tourists searching for travel-related information are no longer limited to sightseeing, but also cover knowledge exploration, the desire to participate and experience, and the pursuit of emotional connection and spiritual self-consistency. Cultural-creative products represented by distinctive seals precisely satisfy tourists' deeper travel experience and also carry the culture of the destination.

　　In Shenyang, there is a video account UP host who calls herself "Shenyang Stamp King," named Qi Sirui. Almost every weekend, she shuttles among the city's major museums. Qi Sirui admits that these seals are exquisitely designed, extracting the striking cultural elements of each museum, and are both commemorative and ornamental.

　　Qi Sirui said that stamp-collecting is inexpensive and easy to start; free self-service stamping and paid stamp-collecting coexist, with single paid stamping starting from single digits and mostly not exceeding 100 yuan. In addition, in many places the stamping check-in locations have shifted from open to hidden, turning consumers into "treasure hunters" and adding to the fun of travel.

　　Wang Lei, director of the Institute of Sociology at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, believes that from the perspective of consumer psychology, stamp-collecting is similar to stamp collecting and blind boxes. "When something forms a series and is scarce, and is also limited by time and space, it easily creates a desire to collect."

　　Some Tourists Stamp for the Sake of Stamping

　　"The sense of ritual is there, but the connotation of the seal design is ignored." Zhang Jiachen said that some people stamp merely for the sake of stamping; originally they wanted to leave traces during their travels, but it turned into going somewhere just to stamp, without caring about the content of the visit.

　　On May 2, because the school recommended museum stamp-collecting, parent Liu Jianqiang took his second-grade son to the museum for a whole day. "Each check-in point requires queuing for 3 to 5 minutes; with 18 check-in points plus the travel, it takes at least more than two hours." Liu Jianqiang said that although the school did not make it mandatory, if his classmates completed it, his son would insist on doing the same.

　　What dissatisfied Liu Jianqiang even more was that some cultural-creative shops offer free stamping but require meeting a minimum spending threshold before one can stamp. Previously, he had also encountered stamping points that forcibly required following an official account or forwarding to Moments.

　　The reporter learned through interviews that at present, the seals provided by major museums, memorial halls, cultural-creative blocks, and other venues in China mainly fall into two types: permanent seals and event seals. Stamp-collecting services are both free and paid. Each location has different spending requirements for stamp-collecting, generally marking a minimum spending amount; some locations allow stamping with any purchase, or with the purchase of designated products.

　　"Some people even queue to stamp with a big bag of booklets, stamping hundreds at a time." Zhang Jiachen told the reporter that "stamp friends" jokingly call those who are paid to stamp in bulk for others "pile drivers."

　　The reporter saw on second-hand trading platforms that there are many such "stamping on behalf" services, including stamping various museum seals, commemorative seals, set seals, date stamps, and scenic stamps, at 6 yuan each, excluding shipping.

　　In a cultural-creative shop on Shenyang Middle Street, there are dozens of free seals related to Shenyang's history and culture. Shop owner Li Wenxi found that some merchants only use them to "divert traffic" for consumption, and the seals have no design to speak of. She even found in a "stamp friend's" booklet that stolen seals were used commercially, at 5 yuan each.

　　More Attention Should Be Paid to the Cultural Value Behind the Seals

　　Using stamping as a guide, people can experience the joy of freely exploring a city. There are many bloggers like Qi Sirui who specifically share "clearance guides" for checking in at scenic spots in various cities.

　　Li Wenxi said she hopes more people can understand a city through its seals.

　　Wang Lei believes that stampers should pay more attention to the cultural value of the seals themselves and their potential for cultural dissemination. Whether it is the seal pattern design or the act of stamping, it should also be linked to the content to help tourists deepen their understanding of the activity content and exhibition design.

　　Improve the quality and aesthetic appeal of the seals, and enhance their interest, uniqueness, and humanistic quality through thematic and story-based approaches. "Let children experience the fun of stamping while also learning knowledge," Liu Jianqiang suggested.

　　Regarding the "stamping on behalf" service, Wang Lei said that excessively flaunting individual experiences on social media seems somewhat utilitarian; what truly reflects the value of having visited a museum should be the accumulated knowledge and memories, and the emotions and cognition gained from them should be the best standard for measuring a "check-in." He looks forward to more new ways to play at scenic spots everywhere, and to seeing more tourists and cities meet each other halfway.