HONG KONG, Aug. 19(Xinhuanet)-- The 18th Asian International Stamp Exhibition kicked off at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall Friday with the participation of 22 countries and regions, according to reports reaching here from Taipei.

More than 1,500 frames of stamps from 22 countries and regions are on show, with more than 70 booths at the exhibition hall displaying a wide variety of stamps for sale.

Stamp dealers from the United States have set up several booths at the show to promote items such as stamps featuring Elvis Presley as well as NBA players. One US booth featuring a set of" Large Dragon" stamps from the Qing dynasty attracted many stamp fans.

A British booth is showing stamps as well as many old envelopes. The Swedish booth is displaying not only stamps from Sweden but also samples from Denmark and Monaco.

The Japanese stamps on show tend to follow a cute trend, featuring characters such as Hello Kitty and Piccachio characters with which Taiwan people are familiar.

Other attractions include Mongolian postage stamps rarely seen in Taiwan and stamps from Arabian countries, South Korea, Australia and the Netherlands.

The exhibition will wind up on Aug. 24. Enditem