Chinanews, Hangzhou, Dec. 26 – Consumption boom has occurred in Hangzhou when the New Year is just around the corner. Jewelries and gold have become most people’s favorite choice for gifts.
A middle-aged woman bought two gold bars at a cost of 378,000 yuan in Hangzhou Department Store a few days ago. The woman said that she would give the gold bars to her parents as a New Year gift. Her filial act was immediately reported by local media. In order to make sure that the gold bars could reach her home safely, the store sent two security guards to accompany the woman back home, a sales woman at the department store said.
Another two gold bars, weighing one kilogram each, were also sold in the Lao Miao Gold Store in Hangzhou recently at a cost of 400,000 yuan.
As the gold price in international market had dropped slightly, sales of gold and jewelries began to boom in the jewelry sales counters at various department stores in Hangzhou. Also, the New Year is coming near, therefore many people in Hangzhou want to buy some gold either for private collection or a New Year gift for dear ones, insiders say.
In the past, rich people in Hangzhou used to put some gold bars inside their cloth cases so that when they needed money for urgent use, they could take them out immediately. People called these gold bars as “little yellow fish” (xiao huang yu). Recently, the number of people buying these “little yellow fish” grew again. Local department stores, which used to sell gold pieces weighing 50 grams, 100 grams or 200 grams, now put more gold bars or even gold bricks on sale.
In Zhejiang, where lots of people carry on the tradition of doing business, it is quite natural that rich people will buy some gold and jewelries at this time of the year and consequently, sales of these precious things are entering into a booming season now. Many local businesspeople are good at doing business and their richness is well-known throughout China. At the same time, the income of ordinary people in Zhejiang is also rising in recent years and therefore, many people are willing to use their extra money to buy something.
