Sales of gold are up in Nanjing this Chinese New Year, by quite a large margin, and the desire for lucky-gold bunnies seems to not to be tainted by present prices for the precious metal.
This Spring Festival, offline sales of gold sales have been booming. Not only are the traditional little gold bars and bracelets popular, but this year it’s golden beans and beads which are popular among young people.
Not surprisingly, rabbit-themed gold jewellery has also taken on a leading role.
As Nanjing Daily reported this morning, on the afternoon of 26 January, the gold and jewellery counters of many shopping malls in Nanjing’s Xinjiekou were packed with people.
A Ms. Yang Yahong spoke with reporters. “I came to buy gold beads with my elder brother and sister in law, since this year, they are very popular”, she said as she made her selection. Finally, she chose two 1.01-gram gold beads and an accompanying special-edition red cord at a price of nearly ¥1,400. “I think they are very beautiful and worth it”, said Yang. “You see, wearing this in the New Year shows both wealth and happiness.”
Then there are the sales of anything golden-bunny-zodiac related. A male shopper, also surnamed Yang, stopped by to purchase a gold-rabbit pendant for his 12-year old granddaughter.
Clearly conscious of this year’s fashion, Yang said, “It’s her birth year this year, so I’m getting this to bless her with good luck”, as he parted with more than ¥1,000.
The Spring Festival peak in gold sales has also been sufficient to entice retailers to cut the price of much of their glistening inventory. Some gold stores were found to be offering a discount of 8.5 percent on gold jewellry.
And all this despite the current global price for gold.
On 14 January, the international gold price surged to US$1940.50 per ounce, representing a new high since April of last year.
But even so, in 2022, with the backdrop of several geopolitical crises, the global pandemic, a slowdown in the world economy and rising inflation, gold has once again become the preferred reserve for many in Nanjing at Chinese New Year.