I think the most famous place for Beijingers gold buying is Caishikou Department Store, in Chinese is 菜市口百货商店，

北京菜市口百货股份有限公司
Work Time: 9.00am——8.30pm
地址：北京市宣武区广内大街306号
Add: 306, Guangnei Dajie, Xuangwu District
[img]http://www.bjcaibai.com.cn/uploadpic/200710611223623.gif [/img]
Tel：010-83520088

I think a good option here is to try an online search for the best places that sell gold, this way you have a transparent view on market prices and once you find the best gold seller you can do some more research on it's business image. This is how you can buy gold scrap everywhere, not just Beijing.

Bank of China should be the best,safest bet.

Cheap is not always the best way to go when buying gold.
Some things you want to consider is if the name of the place where the gold was minted is reputable, and if the sellers are reputable. I know that most (or all) gold minting and exchange is controlled by the state here, but as with anything there is the possibility that the gold is being bought from illegal sources or less than reputable sources which may result in impurities of the gold or difficulties reselling it.

I bought and sold gold in the U.S. and one of the first pieces of practical advice I ever received was when buying and selling precious metals to be sure the mint the gold is coming from has a solid reputation, or many sellers will give you a lower purchasing price or refuse to buy from you outright, and with good reason.

It's always good to look for the best deal, but just keep in mind that (and this is going to sound bad I'm sorry) we are in the home of the ShanZhai and this extends potentially to the precious metals market just like it notably does to the jewelry market.

I am also looking for good places to buy gold and silver here in China, but having a hard time finding pure bullion, none of the painted or decorative stuff that permeates every market I've been to yet.

Good Luck, post your good findings when you get them!

Caishikou has commemorative bars on 1st floor close to escaltors. For investment bars, go to 2nd floor. Exit the escalator, go straight past the silver on your right, and turn left, then a right. You will be where the ATM machines and bathrooms are. You'll see the investment area at the front of the building. I prefer jewelry, so don't know the bar prices.

The highest benefit/cost ratio to buy gold is from a bank that offers physical gold purchase services. You will need to have a ShangHai gold exchange account for the bank issued or gov. issued bullion. I am not sure if they open such account for foreigners. For commemorative bars sold at the bank, just buy with your ID.

If I buy gold in Chinese bank, can I take it with me to other country?

gdbill

China doesn't have any regulations regarding gold transportation? I can just put 3 kilos of gold in my handbag and board the plane?

There was actually a lengthy discussion here about buying gold in China a while back:

http://www.thebeijinger.com/forum/2010/03/09/How-much-cash-can-I-bring-t...

To summarize,

-investment gold bars are very easy to buy here now, Caibai and the China Gold stores would be my first choice
-prices of investment gold bars change daily and are based on the Shanghai spot price, plus commission
-commissions are quite reasonable, China Gold charges 8 RMB/gr when buying 100g or more, 10RMB/gr if buying less than 100g, and 2 RMB/gr when selling. I believe that Caibai charges similar commissions or the same
-you can also buy gold (and silver) Panda coins here but you will pay a premium over the spot price, and ironically it actually seems cheaper to buy these in the US
-as for purity and authenticity, investment-grade gold is 999.9 and the bars that are sold at China Gold (and to an extent CaiBai) are from Zhongjin Gold and stamped with CHN GOLD. It so happens that Zhongjin Gold is on the LBMA's Good Delivery list, along with several other Chinese refiners:

http://www.lbma.org.uk/pages/index.cfm?page_id=29&title=gold_list
-CaiBai also sells China-produced gold from Metalor SA and Pamp Suisse, however the local refiners for these brands have not yet made it to the LBMA good delivery list (I'm sure they eventually will, however)

(Image above from http://www.monstersandcritics.com/blogs/theworldinpictures/article_15437... )

With all that's happening around the world, and could happen in China, it seems prudent to hold some precious metals (physical, not paper). I also hold some silver but the commissions here for trading physical silver are way too high (10% to buy and sell).

I noticed that this thread was started back in 2008 by the original poster asking for places to acquire gold in BJ. I certainly hope they figured it out in 2008, since the increase in the spot on Au has been more than significant (certainly beating out many indexes, esp. in the US).

Currently (at the time of my post) I am actually trying to raise some Chinese paper fiat (RMBs)in exchange for US Mint SE BU Silver Bullion, so my search has lead me to several places all that sell and only a few that buy.

If anyone has any input on a reputable place to SELL precious metals within the international spread (spot plus some premium), please let me know. Thanks.

Here are the places I have been:

1. caibai on "cow street"? off 2nd ring road which is a big 4 story jewelry and bullion store which has a little of everything and a lot of different products. It was described to me as a jewelry shopping mall. Web site is here:http://www.bjcaibai.com.cn/ Go straight to the back right corner of the first floor and/or up to the fourth floor for gold and silver bullion products. 9:30AM to 8:30PM.

Their prices for bullion coins and bars appeared to carry a big premium but not insanely so. they also have a repurchase department so hold on to your receipts. I believe they buy back at the current spot price and charge 2 RMB per gram for a fee. (Don't quote me on this, but I think it is correct)

2. I was told that there is a private dealer market directly across the street from Caibai. I went there and saw the awnings (dealer umbrellas) in rows but they were already empty at 6:00. They are open from 7:30AM to 5:00PM. It was already closed the evening I was there so I can't say what actually goes on there or whether or not it is worth the trip. I may go back there if I get a chance.

3. Stamp Mall (Jiyou market on ma dian street - third ring road north near hepingxiqiao subway station on line 5. This is a huge mall that is mainly for collectors of expired stamps, currency bills, antique coins, and some silver and gold. I found some of the vendors there to be extremely rude and there were plenty of little girls there leading you to booths hopeful for a commission. I couldn't shake the darn parasites off -- they were like shadows. (Note I was traveling with a business associate -- a Chinese woman, who some of the vendors rudely taunted and ridiculed for being with a Westerner.) One "repectful" vendor there offered me a decent price for just a few Silver Eagles, but still less than I could easily get online, so I declined the offer. It appeared that Silver Pandas and collector (unique rounds) carried a higher premium than investment grade silver. There were a lot of fakes everywhere - some easily spotted others that you would need a Vernier Caliper/Microme​ter + Scale to disclose.

3. Lastly, I went to a Bank near me on Jian Quo Men. This was called Bank of Communications. The Manager there was helpful (esp. since he spoke English with me), but said they only sell and do not purchase gold and silver product. They do not even RE-purchase bullion from buying customers. He recommended going to Pawn Shops. Come on, really? ...if Pawn Shops are anything like they are in the US (or worse) then I can forget about getting much about spot price.

4. I found this site today as well: http://www.cngold.org/ For what it is worth.

My conclusion so far is that all the stories in the US about people in China buying gold ("In China 1.3 billion people are buying silver and gold") is complete utter nonsense. The average Chinese person is as naive about economics (hedging against inflation/currency debasement) and precious metals as the average American is. And when it comes to liquidity of precious metals exchange I have found it to be close to non-existent in BJ. The ability to convert from fiat paper (RMBs) to Metals and back again is NOT an easy thing to do.

Any feedback, comments, questions, rants, etc... woule be greatly appreciated!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: Anyone want to acquire 40ozt of 2008 US Mint Silver Eagles (or trade 5-10 Pandas one-for-one) contact me.

Pete

The commissions to buy/sell investment silver (bars) are quite high here, you will lose about 10% each way (at CaiBai and other places). I believe at CaiBai if you buy over 20kg of silver at once the buying commission drops to something a lot more reasonable, in the 3% range?

Investment gold is a different matter, with buying commissions at China Gold ranging from 2-10 RMB/gr (depending on how much you buy and when you take delivery), and selling commissions 2 RMB/gr. CaiBai is similar, but I don't believe they have a late delivery option so the commission is either 8 or 10 RMB/g to buy, and 2 RMB/g on selling.

CaiBai will also take your old gold jewellery (from non-CaiBai sources) and give you credit towards gold purchases at CaiBai, the fee they charge for this is between 15-20 RMB/g.

I have not been to the Stamp Mall, but I've also found Silver Pandas to be more expensive here than the authorized dealers in the US. The same goes for Gold Pandas.

I respectfully disagree, the average Chinese is not buying a large amount of gold, but it's more than what the average American is buying. Whenever I visit CaiBai, it is packed. Even the few times I went on weekdays it was quite busy. Granted most folks are buying jewellery, but the availability of investment grade gold/silver says to me that there is still strong demand for these. Also note the proliferation of China Gold outlets (which have a strong focus on investment grade gold) here in the last couple of years.

Also, most of the more investment-savvy folks here are trading paper silver/gold (I believe the commissions are lower than for trading physical) - how many US banks offer this? In fact I've been meaning to visit my ICBC branch to find out how I can do this - the commissions on trading physical silver are too high to make it worthwhile, not to mention the inconvenience of lugging it around.

What kind of premium do these carry over spot?

Thanks to everyone for the replies and input, having said that I still don't know how to convert my 40ozt to RMB in BJ.

US Mint premium on Silver Eagles went up to $2.50 about a year ago. There are only a handful (8) of US Mint "Authorized Purchasers" for silver and gold Eagles. My understanding is that everyone else buys through them.

A-Mark
American Precious Metals Exchange
Coins 'N Things Inc.
Dillon Gage Incorporated of Dallas (USM *Silver only)
MTB - Manfra Tordella & Brookes, Inc. (New York)
Prudential Securities, Inc.
Scotia Mocatta (New York)
The Gold Center (Illinois)

List of various U.S. National and Local Bullion Dealers:
U.S. Mint American Eagles and Gold Buffaloes

Regarding the previous comment on the amount of investment in China for PM; and paper metal investments:

I would like to see the per capita numbers on PM investing, before going on about the number of Chinese investors v. Amerikan. I am just tired of the "bugs" stating that the Chinese government is telling people to invest in metals and therefore 1.4 billion people are loading up on Gold and silver. Nonsense. Walk two blocks away from caiBai and ask people on the street if they are buying silver or gold. I have asked everyone I meet in China and they don't even know HOW to invest in physical OR paper. At best they hold some "antique" silver coins, with authenticity I seriously question. ( a friend gave me a couple as a gift, some math, a scale and some acid showed them to be zinc plated bronze.)

Regarding paper: Yes, I hold some too, but it is allocated in trusts with physical delivery options - e.g: Sprott Gold and Silver and The Central Fund of Canada (CEF). Shares of stocks like GLD (the largest gold ETF in the world) are for TRADING, NOT investing, IMHO. There are plenty of others iAU, etc.. and several traded out of Hong Kong. One strategy for paper trades is to hold physical metal and short GLD or SLV (the Silver ETF)as insurance against major downturns. My strategy has been buy and hold physical and since I bought gold at 400 it does not affect me financiallyto sell a few if I need cash. (Unlike paper which would have sold on the activation of trailing % short triggers many times over.) Question with paper has always been -- does the physical really exist in the vault or is it covered (papered over) by (naked?) short positions? Plenty of stories reported about US Crimex (Comex) traders demanding warehouse receipts be executed and delivered only to be offered extremely high buyout to settle (instead of delivery). There is plenty regarding this never ending drama online - Google: "Andrew McGuire, J.P Morgan, and GATA" if you have several hours to kill.

Final note on paper metal shares: IF and when the fiat currencies debase themselves to zero (see Zimbabwe)in a race to the bottom, you really don't want anyone or anything between you and your wealth, do you?

Anyone want to part with some red notes? Unfortunately the topless hiking trip this weekend does not except American Express or Silver Eagle Rolls -- but they should. My BJ Classified post.

You're right. One major concern with precious metal ETFs is that there is significant doubt about whether they have 100% backing in metals.

I have heard that investing in mining company stock is a little riskier -- depending on how you look at it -- than just buying the physical metals. They say when you get the stock there is more to the price than just the price of metals at that moment. I'm not sure if that is true or not, but it's just what I've heard.

Swiss Franc against other currencies. Gold up 1.37% over CHF.
Source: Zerohedge.com/Goldcore--Bloomberg