The 2008 Year of the Rat, a souvenir sheet of 1 stamp from Canada.

 

Canada Post celebrates the Lunar New Year with a stamp honoring 2008 as the Year of the Rat. This souvenir sheet features all twelve of the lunar calendar's animals bringing gifts at the wedding of the two featured characters. The bride holds a parasol while her groom (the international rate commemorative stamp) holds a fan in one hand and a basket of tangerines in the other.

Among the featured details are abstract representations of the failed suitors—sun, wind, clouds and wall—in the background. Along with the intense colors, the stamps are over-printed with shimmering highlights in both pearlescent and gold foils, and all the animals are delicately embossed. Each sheet of stamps passed four times through various presses to achieve this level of detail. The result is an almost tactile sense of richness and depth, like looking at silk.