MANY Shenzhen residents flocked across the border and created a gold rush in Hong Kong over the weekend, buying up gold after the weeklong plummet of prices on the international market, Shenzhen Evening News reported yesterday.

    Border-crossers waiting to enter Hong Kong queued from the departure lounge to the open square outside Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint on Sunday. Many of them were Shenzhen residents planning to shop for gold products. A Shenzhen resident surnamed Chen was one of the shoppers waiting in line.

    “Relatives in my hometown used to ask me to carry baby formula and digital products over the border, but now it’s gold,” Chen said.

    Staff at Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint said while there was no single, drastic surge of border-crossers over the weekend, passenger traffic began to increase early in the mornings and peaked between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m each day.

    Luohu, Futian and Huanggang checkpoints also were overflowing last weekend.

    Customs officers said people carrying more than 50 grams of gold onto the mainland must declare the products and pay custom duties accordingly.

    A financial professional surnamed Liu said gold was not an ideal product for family investments, though, because its price can drastically soar and slump with market fluctuations. Gold prices reached a then-record US$850 an ounce (28 grams) in 1980, for example, but dropped to US$284 per ounce in 1985. Liu said it’s unwise to follow sudden trends or rush to purchase gold.

    Nonetheless, the sharp plummet of gold prices that started April 12 has galvanized purchasing fevers among Shenzheners and Hong Kong residents.

    A Hong Kong resident surnamed Tsang, who lives in Sheung Wan, said several local gold stores were running short of stock for gold bars and gold ingots, which are thought to be more stable in value.

    Haywood Cheung, president of the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society, confirmed that a ton of gold bars sold out within three days after gold prices plunged and said the exchange has ordered as much as four times its ordinary stock to cater to the surging demand.

    (Anna Zhao)