China's first golden bars that are designed as birthday presents for the elderly were put on the market on Wednesday August 29.

China issued a limited edition of 999 sets of such golden bars priced at 199 yuan, or 26 U.S. dollars per gram. Every set of the bars, made from pure gold, includes four pieces of bars weighting at 30, 50, 100 and 200 grams. Each set also has its corresponding limited number and license.

The front of the bar has sixty different Chinese characters of "Shou", which means longevity in Chinese. The back has the work from the most noted contemporary Chinese painter, Qi Baishi's "Peach", which is also offered as a birthday present in China.

(CRI.cn August 30, 2007)