Very little is known about the MOBILE POST introduced by the Chinese communist government in Tibet in 1956. One of the first acts of the Chinese occupying forces was to build and extend roads which made the introduction of a Mobile Post practical.

However, resistance from Tibetan guerrillas against communist rule led to attacks on the Sikang-Tibet road which on occasion was made impassable. In 1956, communist forces and guerillas met "face to face" at Hei-Ho (Hegchu) and the Tsinghai-Tibet road was also blocked in the fighting. It spread to Chamdo and was serious enough for the Chinese to close small post offices in the less populated areas. All this led to the abandonment of the Mobile Post. A letter from Lhasa G.PO. on March 11, 1957 reported that the Mobile Post was closed. (See Chiu Page 162 Volume 5).

Chiu wrote (page 128 Vol.5). "There are usually postal staff in the lorry to manage the postal articles, which include military family letters and ordinary business letters, all treated in the same way. There is no definite arrival and leaving time schedule nor destinations for those lorries. They are, however, divided into series depending on which part of the road they are running."

The only postmarks seen have two characters at the top "Tibet" and the date 56.10.26 in the centre with Chinese characters underneath for "Mobile 2nd series". As no receiving marks to go with them, it is possible the covers so far found were raided from the Mobile Post Office in transit. The "2nd series" pre-suppose that other series exist — but so far they have not been recorded.