The Epicenter of China’s Gold Craze Is a Former Fishing Village

By Chongjing Li and Alfred Cang – Bloomberg

In a cavernous multistory mall, customers jostle for space amid endless rows of glass display cabinets that glimmer under the bright lights. The space thrums with excitement as shoppers gaze down at bracelets, rings, necklaces and other finely crafted treasures.

Welcome to Shuibei in Shenzhen, a former fishing village in southern China that’s become the epicenter of the nation’s voracious appetite for gold, and a street-level barometer of economic and market forces impacting demand. More than 10,000 businesses are clustered across several city blocks, a labyrinth of opulence that’s among the largest gold retail markets in the world.