One sign of the approaching new year is the appearance of vendors selling 2007 calendars. This fortune-telling text, Forecasts for the Pig Year, recently hit newsstands across Beijing. Written by TV fengshui master Rocky Sung (宋韶光), Your general horoscope for 2007, a calendar of auspicious days, a guide to the year's fengshui orientations, answers to frequently asked questions about metaphysics - it's all here.

It's entirely unlicensed, of course; there's no mainland book registration, it lacks the authenticity sticker that real copies have, and though it lists for HK$45, you can pick up a copy here for just 10 yuan or less.

The total volume of gold bars being issued in China this year is 3,000 kg, at a price of 175 yuan per gram in Bejing, the first city to issue them to the public. They can be bought in weights of 1000g, 500g, 200g, 100g and 50g.

Sales of the gold bars are expected to be boosted due to the Year of the Pig being the last year in the 12-year rotation of the Chinese lunar calendar making it a lucky and rich year, according to traditional superstition.

Add to the fact that out of the five Chinese elements - metal, wood, water, fire and earth - 2007 is the year of metal, or gold, and people are expected to snaffle up the pig bars.

China first issued the gold bars to commemorate the lunar new year in 2002, the Year of the Sheep. The wooly gold bars were sold for 92 yuan per gram.

Prices last year were roughly 40 yuan per gram lower than this year.