As China's Spring Festival approaches, gold sales across the country have continued to surge, despite the precious metal's soaring price.
In Zhengzhou, the capital of central China's Henan Province, customer interest in gold jewelry with designs of snake, the zodiac animal for the upcoming lunar year, remains strong, although gold jewelry prices hover around 700 yuan (about 95 U.S. dollars) per gram.
In the lead-up to the Chinese Lunar New Year, there has been a notable increase in consumers buying gold jewelry for weddings and birthdays. Many customers are opting for gold jewelry in sets and heavier pieces.
"We have a lot of orders for the traditional three pieces of gold jewelry for weddings. From Jan 1st to now, the number of customers has increased by one to two times compared to the other times. We also have a lot of large orders now," said Chen Jing, a gold store manager.
To lure in customers and ramp up sales during the festive season, gold stores have rolled out promotions such as discounts and the waiving of processing fees.
Similarly, in Shenzhen, a city in south China's Guangzhou Province, snake-themed gold jewelry is attracting not only local residents but also out-of-town customers.
"We came from Hubei Province specifically to buy gold jewelry in Shenzhen. We are quite satisfied with the design and the price of gold jewelry in Shenzhen," said a consumer.
"We have quite a lot of both wholesale and retail orders. In terms of categories, snake-themed rings and necklace sets are selling better, with the daily sales around two to three kilograms," said Chen Yan, a gold store owner.
Gold sales sparkle during Chinese festive season
More than 100 representatives of the Chinese-Filipino community and descendants of war veterans gathered at Manila's Chinese Cemetery on Tuesday to pay tribute to overseas Chinese who fought against the Japanese occupation during World War II.
The memorial ceremony was also attended by Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian and other officials of the embassy.
Among the attendees was 96-year-old Mike Lu, or Lu Shuiya, a veteran of the Philippine Chinese Anti-Japanese Guerilla Force, known as Wha-Chi in the Philippines. Every year during the Qingming Festival which falls on April 4 this year, he would visit the cemetery to honor his fallen comrades.
"We will not forget, the people will not forget, the motherland will not forget," said Lu in a speech.
Another veteran, 102-year-old Wang Chenli, also participated in the ceremony.
Alongside Ambassador Huang and other dignitaries, the two elderly fighters laid wreaths and bowed in remembrance at the monument dedicated to the Chinese resistance fighters.
Following Japan's occupation of the Philippines in 1942, overseas Chinese in the country set up resistance groups such as the Philippine-Chinese Anti-Japanese Force and the Philippine-Chinese Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Forces, and latter is also known as Wha-Chi.
Wha-Chi played an impressive role in the fight against Japanese aggressors in over three years of the occupation.
The unit killed, wounded, and captured more than 2,000 enemy troops, at a cost of 77 casualties among its own ranks. After the war, the Chinese-Filipino community erected multiple memorials to commemorate these wartime heroes.
"Many people do not know that the Chinese minority in the Philippines was very fearless and very consistent in resisting Japanese militarism during World War II. We should not forget the war history in order to preserve and uphold peace," said Wilson Lee Flores, a well-known columnist in the Philippines.
Chinese WWII resistance fighters in Philippines commemorated
