"Since last Friday, there has been a sudden surge of people coming to buy and sell gold, with yesterday likely being the busiest day," a salesperson at Caibai revealed, noting that the recent significant fluctuations in gold prices have attracted large crowds of citizens to gold stores, with the investment gold bar section on the fourth floor being the most popular area.
As a bellwether for gold consumption in Beijing, Caishi Kou Department Store (hereinafter referred to as "Caibai") has become a microcosm of the current gold boom.
On February 2nd, a visit to the Caibai store in Beijing's Xicheng District revealed an intensely bustling atmosphere immediately upon entering; gold jewelry counters on every floor and buyback windows were crowded with people, with the sounds of inquiries and discussions intermingling.
Meanwhile, international gold prices are currently experiencing a roller-coaster ride. On the afternoon of February 2nd, the international spot gold price fell below $4,450 per ounce, hitting a new low since January 8th and retreating over $430 per ounce from the intraday high.
The gold buyback fever is evident: some are trading old for new, while others are selling gold to repay mortgages.
Back at the Caibai scene, in the gold jewelry area on the first floor, a woman was processing a trade-in transaction; she had her eye on a gold necklace priced at over 8,000 yuan and ultimately completed the exchange at a depreciation price of 25 yuan per gram below the market price. On a prominent notice board, Caibai's daily gold price was clearly marked at 1,550 yuan per gram.
When arriving at the gold buyback window on Caibai's third floor, number calls were frequent, and the queue stretched from the window all the way to the end, seemingly endless.
A woman over 50 years old detailed her collection of gold jewelry to a reporter, planning to liquidate all her holdings. This included a roughly 16-gram gold necklace purchased in 1995 for only about 130 yuan per gram, along with gold jewelry and earrings acquired in 2018, some of which had already been given to her daughter to wear.
"Recent gold prices are favorable, and seeing queues for selling gold everywhere in Beijing, I also want to seize the opportunity to liquidate and help my child repay their mortgage," the woman told the reporter.
She specifically reminded that selling gold has clear procedural requirements: one must bring an ID card and bank card, large transactions support cash withdrawal, and funds can arrive on the same day.
However, some recycling institutions have strict requirements for invoices, and lacking purchase receipts might affect the buyback. "I still have the receipt for the necklace I bought in 1995 safely kept, but I lost the receipt for one bracelet, so that one might not be recycled smoothly," the woman said, her tone full of regret.
In the crowd, complaints from a middle-aged man resonated with others nearby. It turned out he was there to sell gold jewelry on behalf of his mother; the batch included a bracelet purchased by his mother in 2016, totaling over 40 grams, bought at a price of over 300 yuan per gram at the time.
"I came to queue yesterday but forgot my ID card and couldn't complete the transaction, so I made a special trip again today. If I had sold yesterday, the gold price was higher, and I could have earned more money," the man said helplessly, adding that his mother had long planned to use the proceeds from this gold buyback to give New Year's money to the children.
The investment gold bar fever is also strong: one young person made a large purchase of 450 grams of gold.
During on-site conversations, more than one Caibai salesperson suggested visiting the investment gold purchasing area. The reporter then went to the fourth floor, where the scene confirmed the salespersons' claims. The area was packed with people, with special signs marking the "End of Purchase Queue" and "End of Collection Queue"; customers consulting, selecting, and paying were endless, indicating a high tide of investment gold bar purchases.
In front of the payment counter, a conspicuous notice was particularly eye-catching, stating: "Effective immediately, full payment for investment commodities must be completed within 1 hour of the 'Sales Pre-collection Slip' being issued; unpaid slips will automatically expire after the deadline." Dated October 2025, the implementation of this rule is clearly aimed at managing the surge in purchase demand and ensuring transaction order.
A young person shared his investment experience with the reporter. Influenced by his parents, he began paying attention to the gold market in 2019 and has been investing in physical gold together with his family. In previous years, he would purchase 100-200 grams of gold annually, but this year he plans to buy 450 grams in one go.
Furthermore, a middle-aged man shared his investment choice with the reporter. This was his first time investing in physical gold; he had previously purchased some accumulated gold when prices were high and now intends to buy an investment gold bar of around 20 grams.
"I heard from a friend's recommendation that physical gold is more reliable, and since I was born in the Year of the Horse, buying a gold bar this year also serves as a keepsake," he said with a laugh.
Bank gold bars are completely sold out.
The gold market frenzy is not limited to offline stores. Since January 30th, many banks have reported sold-out conditions for physical gold bars.
Checks by the reporter found that from January 30th onwards, multiple investment physical gold products from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) were completely sold out. On February 2nd, a China Merchants Bank staff member told the reporter, "Currently, gold bars are basically all sold out; purchases are generally available for reservation starting around 9 a.m."
Supply chain tensions are evident from internal bank notices. An internal notice from a city commercial bank showed that Gausser investment gold bars suspended报价 and order acceptance starting January 29th; Guofu self-operated gold bars have been out of stock since January 26th, with production expected to take 7-10 working days.
According to bank sources, shipments of Guofu self-operated gold bars will continue until February 11th before the Spring Festival, but if reserves are exhausted, subsequent orders cannot be arranged before the holiday. Shipments are expected to gradually resume after the Spring Festival, starting around March 2nd.
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