The price of gold has tumbled below the 900-yuan mark, leading to a surge of bargain hunters at gold investment counters. On June 11th, Ms. Ma and her husband started their day early. After breakfast near Baiguang Road, they crossed the street to the main entrance of the flagship store of Caibai Jewelry. With ten minutes until opening, she checked her handbag for her ID card and cash, then tucked the bag securely under her arm.

At 9:30 AM, Ms. Ma and her husband were swept inside by a bustling crowd. The store, located in Beijing's Xicheng District, is a core location for Caibai Co., Ltd. (SH: 605599) and a popular destination for Beijing consumers buying gold jewelry and investment bars. Taking the escalator to the fourth floor, Ms. Ma headed straight for the investment gold bar counter. She was slightly too late, finding herself behind three rows of people. After being guided by several staff members, she joined the middle of the queue. Ms. Ma guessed that many people were there to "buy the dip" after seeing the news that gold prices had fallen below 900 yuan the previous night.

When it was her turn, Ms. Ma asked a staff member to issue a price ticket at 897 yuan per gram. At Caibai, after selecting the weight and style of an investment bar, customers get a payment slip. This "ticket" allows them to pay at the listed price within one hour. If the gold price falls, a new ticket can be issued at the lower price; if it rises, the customer can still pay and collect the gold at the lower price on their original ticket.

After getting her ticket, Ms. Ma watched and waited, repeatedly glancing up at the fluctuating gold bar price on the electronic screen. At 10:00 AM sharp, she made her move, purchasing a 50-gram investment gold bar at 896 yuan per gram. The previous afternoon, she had waited at the store for four hours, but the price never reached her target. "I estimated it could drop below 900 yuan," Ms. Ma had confidently stated.

The gold price had indeed fallen rapidly over two days. Data from the Shanghai Gold Exchange shows the morning price for Shanghai gold on June 10th was 912.95 yuan per gram, down from 946.07 yuan the previous day. Around 11 PM on June 10th, the base gold price briefly dipped to a low of 898 yuan per gram, breaking below the 900-yuan threshold. By the morning of June 11th, the price had fallen further to around 883.81 yuan per gram. For many waiting at the scene, the "8-handle" price they had anticipated overnight had finally arrived.

Taking Action After the Drop

On the fourth floor of the Caibai flagship store, opposite the large screen, there is an indoor fish pond surrounded by a stone step seating area. This spot often serves as a temporary gathering place for people to observe and discuss.

Like Ms. Ma, many who were watching the day before decided to buy once the price fell below 900 yuan per gram. Staff at the flagship store noted that customer traffic on the morning of June 11th was noticeably higher than usual. The store even sold a 1,000-gram large-format investment gold bar, which typically sees slower sales.

One woman was observed getting a price ticket at 896 yuan per gram, but by the time she went to pay, the price had dropped to 894 yuan. Others suggested she get a new ticket, but she waved them off, saying, "Buying gold is like buying stocks. You buy when it hits your target price. Don't be swayed by price fluctuations."

Another customer, Mr. Yang, sitting on the stone steps, purchased a 30-gram investment bar at 885 yuan per gram. Unlike others who left after buying, he returned to the steps to watch the fluctuating price, planning to buy more if it dropped further. Mr. Yang explained that he was buying gold to hold long-term for his child, viewing short-term volatility as normal and remaining bullish on the long-term outlook. "I'll take this opportunity and hold it for three to five years," he said.

Nearby, Ms. Huang was frequently on the phone with family, updating them on the real-time gold price. She also purchased a 30-gram bar at 885 yuan per gram. For her, the price drop was a chance to lower her average cost. She revealed that earlier in the year, when gold was around 1,180 yuan per gram, she had bought a 100-gram investment bar. This purchase was meant to average down her investment cost.

Calculating at 885 yuan per gram, the 30-gram bar cost nearly 27,000 yuan. Combined with her previous 100-gram purchase, Ms. Huang now holds 130 grams with a blended average cost of approximately 1,112 yuan per gram. This means even after this "averaging down" purchase, she still has an unrealized loss of about 29,500 yuan. Ms. Huang stated she doesn't expect this single purchase to immediately "break even," but she believes the gold price will ultimately rise in the long run.

On the morning of June 11th, when the price on the big screen jumped from 886 yuan, skipped over 885, and slid directly to 884 yuan per gram, an audible gasp went through the crowd. People quickly re-gathered at the counter from all corners of the hall, asking clerks to reissue their price tickets. Everyone wondered where the red numbers would be in another three minutes.

Simultaneously, international gold prices were also volatile. Reports indicated that on June 10th, prices for gold and silver both hit lows not seen since 2026, with the international gold price falling more than 20% from its peak earlier in the year.

Hesitations Among Bargain Hunters

On the afternoon of June 10th, while gold was still fluctuating around 910 yuan per gram, many people at the Caibai store were discussing whether it would drop below 900. One elderly woman, Ms. Wang, held four or five price tickets—some at 914 yuan, others at 912—but hadn't paid for any. Hearing others talk about waiting for an "8-handle" price made her feel uneasy about buying at that moment.

On June 11th, another customer, Mr. Zhao, was seen sitting on the stone steps with a price ticket in hand but not proceeding to payment. He said this behavior was different from his usual "buy and leave" approach. The steep drop in price was making him hesitate. The price was 897 yuan per gram when he entered the store, but it fell below 890 yuan in less than half an hour. "A difference of nearly 10 yuan... it can drop that much in a short time, can't it?" he remarked.

The hesitation stems from the difficulty in determining whether one is truly "buying the bottom" or simply catching a falling knife. Taking the Shanghai Gold Exchange's benchmark Shanghai Gold price as an example, the morning price on June 11th was 892.83 yuan per gram, a decline of approximately 28% from the year's high of 1,240.99 yuan per gram on January 29th. Over the past few months, investment gold bar prices had once surged above 1,200 yuan per gram, leading many consumers to buy at highs and subsequently find themselves "stuck" with losses.

At the scene, most consumers had their phone screens displaying real-time gold price charts, refreshing every few minutes, or were searching for the latest news on social media or using AI tools. Some linked gold price volatility to U.S. policy, the U.S. dollar, U.S. Treasury bonds, and geopolitical tensions, while others even mentioned events like the World Cup.

When observers left the Caibai flagship store at 4:00 PM on June 11th, the investment gold bar price on the electronic screen continued to fluctuate, rising and falling but never reclaiming the 900 yuan per gram level. Data from the China Gold Association shows that in the first quarter of 2026, national gold jewelry consumption was 84.62 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 37.1%, while consumption of gold bars and coins was 202.062 tons, a year-on-year increase of 46.4%.