Chinese investors seeking shelter in yellow metal

As the price of gold soared over the Spring Festival break, Yang Meiqi, a 62-year-old retiree living in Shanghai, bought four items of gold jewelry for 70,000 yuan ($10,780) in the hopes that the price for the precious metal would continue to rise.

"The average price was about 276 yuan per gram on Feb 4, but it grew so quickly afterward ... that I finally decided to buy some," Yang said.

As China rang in the Year of the Monkey with firecrackers on Feb 8, the price of the precious metal made noise of its own, jumping 2 percent to a seven-and-a-half-month high to eclipse 286 yuan per gram. On Saturday, it climbed to 296 yuan per gram, the day Yang made her purchase. As of Monday, it sits at 340 yuan per gram, according to the Shanghai Gold Jewelry Trade Association.