old on a multitude of things. In most cases, they smothered jewelry, religious icons and everything else they could think of with gold. The popularity of gold arose from its unique physical and chemical properties which captured the imaginations of the ancient peoples.
Why is it that the Chinese people chose red and gold as their auspicious colors? In everyday life, examples of the Chinese adoration of gold can be seen even today on the streets in Hong Kong. These colors predominate on signs, posters and ornaments of all sorts. During the Chinese New Year, the Chinese hang up posters with "lucky messages" to welcome the new year. It is usual that these posters be made of red paper with the messages written in gold paint. Traditional Chinese wedding cards and birthday cards are printed in exactly the same colors - gold on a red background. Just as noticeable is the strong preference of the Chinese for 24K gold. To the Chinese, any gold of lesser purity is not worthy of owning. They would rather buy a smaller piece of jewelry which is pure gold than a larger piece which is not pure. The reason that they choose 24K gold is that they know that 24K is pure. The Chinese have been brought up to respect gold as a symbol of
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