Gold bars went on sale in Shanghai on December 28 for the first time since the founding of New China in 1949.

The media reported that the bars would go on sale at a popular gold store early morning. Almost immediately, a long queue formed outside the shop. Sales started at about one o'clock in the early morning and within 3 hours, nearly all of the 1,000 bars were gone.

Authorized by the People's Bank of China, the bars are issued to mark the new millennium and produced by China Gold Coin Parent Company. They came in four weights, 500, 200, 100 and 50 grams, selling for 120 yuan (14 US dollars) per gram.

Lei Jianrong bought the first bar, a 500-gram piece, and said excitedly, "I did not expect I would be the first in new China to buy a gold bar." He waited in line for 10 hours for his purchase.

Most of the buyers were middle-aged. Some said they bought the bars for commemoration, others said they would pass their gold bars down through their families. Some families sent all members to stand in line to buy bars separately because of the one-bar-per- person limit.

At 4 a.m., nearly all the 1,000 bars were sold, but a number of people still waited outside the store, hoping more bars will be available. (Xinhua)