‘Lift gold brick with one hand’: Chinese city’s US$1.5 million bullion-hoist stunt attracts multitudes to check out ‘gold rush city’

A city in eastern China attracted national attention last week after it promised to give away a 25-kilogram pure gold brick worth more than 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) to the first person who can lift it up using only one hand.

The unusual competition-cum-challenge was announced on the Douyin account of the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Zhaoyuan city in Shandong province on May 3.

It was kicked off by Chi Yixian, the bureau’s director, as he carried the gold brick with both hands at the city’s Gold Museum. 25 kilograms is equivalent to the weight of two standard passenger car tyres.

The video has so far attracted half a million likes and 100,000 comments.

The gold brick challenge is one of the latest promotional stunts employed by culture and tourism bureaus around China.

Previously, tourism and culture officials have appeared in videos on the social media platform Douyin, playing local historical figures or ethnic minority people, to appeal to domestic travellers.

Many people online described the moves as fresh and said they showed a different and friendly side to Chinese officials.

Zhaoyuan City is known for its rich gold deposits and production capabilities, and has been named “China’s gold capital”.

However, Zhaoyuan, also dubbed “China’s gold rush city”, didn’t receive as much positive feedback as it might have hoped.

The promotional video starring Chi also featured several challengers who failed to lift up the hefty brick.

It was an elderly man who, in the end, surprisingly, successfully elevated the brick using one hand.

When online users questioned if the elderly man was given his prize, a person responsible for the challenge, Feng Lili, explained that he was lifting a fake version made of cheap metal that weighs only half that of the actual brick.

Feng also explained that even if it was the real brick, the old man did not meet the requirements of the challenge which were very demanding.

The rules stipulate that challengers should lift up the trapezoid-shaped brick with one hand, while keeping the larger side down and parallel to the surface of the exhibition stand for 25 seconds.

Feng added that the challenge had existed since the museum opened in 2009, and that no one has yet succeeded.

“Don’t initiate the challenge if you can’t afford it. Does a person who can do it successfully even exist?” one online observer commented.

Another backed up the city: “The point is not about giving away the gold brick, but about letting people see and feel it first hand.”

A third compared Zhaoyuan with Zibo, another Shandong city which was recently hailed as China’s “outdoor barbecue capital” and won national acclaim for its reasonable and friendly tourism policies.

“Zibo’s success in tourism is down to its honesty. Zhaoyuan totally plays it wrong,” the poster said.