Big demand for year of tiger gold bars

Ringing in the new year with gold that's something many Chinese people do when they head into a fresh start on the lunar calendar. CCTV reporter reports on a gold rush for bars commemorating the year of the tiger.

Gold bars commemorating the year of the tiger.

It's early in the morning, but hundreds of eager customers are already waiting in line outside this department store.

Once the doors were open, they stormed in to exchange wads of cash for a glittering prize -- gold bars to celebrate the Year of the Tiger.

The store manager says this is the eighth year they are selling these bars and market enthusiasm is still high, despite gold hitting a record high of 290 yuan per gram. That's compared to just 200 yuan per gram when people turned up the same time last year to snap up bars marking the Year of the Ox.

Wang Chunli, General Manager of Caibai Department Store said "We've appointed more staff to manage sales of these gold bars, and also more staff to provide information and security. We know customers are anxious so we try to speed up their purchases."

In fact, buyers need not fear losing out because they are not sold on a first-come-first-served basis. Instead, they need to be ordered in advance. But collectors are still desperate to lay their hands on these bars because they are limited editions.

Ms. Wang, Gold Bar Collector said "In the last few years, I have turned up as early as I can to pick up a bar. Now they offer a pre-order service. They just telephone me, even offering me VIP service so I won't miss out."

Wang aims to collect a complete set of gold bars for every animal on the Chinese lunar calendar. They are available at different weights, from 50 to 1,000 grams. Around 4 tons of such gold bars are issued every year around China.