To help cope with collapsing currencies and crumbling stockmarkets, patriotic Thais and South Koreans have been handing in their goldbracelets, brooches and necklaces to be melted into ingots that can be used to repay foreign creditors.
Whether through gold bars or bracelets, gold demand from Chinese households has risen since Jan. 2000 at a compound average growth rate of 8.9% year-on-year.