Welcome to the English Forum, where casual observations are the order of the day... every day!

Any bright lads here have any idea why the Chinese are buying? And buying like there was no tomorrow.

Property has collapsed, so moving to the other safe investment that only ever goes up

Plus, I guess, all those US-bonds they own.
When the music stops playing you don't want to be the one without a chair...

Property has not yet collapsed in China, AFAIK. It's just quite close.

Some are saying they're preparing for a future where the dollar is no longer the world's reserve currency.

Correct. But that would imply that gold is money or at least something more than 'shiny attractive metal'.
My question to those who have problems understanding gold is this:-
- What is the alternative to gold for the long-term storage of wealth in a transportable* form? Pieces of paper with silly peoples' faces (or bridges etc.) on them?

* [Don't forget - land and houses are Immobilien, i.e. NOT mobile].

The story I've been hearing is that voices not only in China, but also in Russia and Germany have been calling for displacing the dollar with a new reserve currency, and their heavy purchases of metal suggest a preference that such a currency be backed by metal, of which they will have plenty on hand when that time comes.

I agree gold has dipped seriously. But - as you well know - where there's sellers there must be buyers. The buyers today are peoples' with thousands of years of experience.
That suggests to me that the drop in the gold price may be short term 'turbulence' in the midst of very turbulent times.

IMF paper warns of 'savings tax' and mass write-offs as West's debt hits 200-year high

As Charles Goyette points out, (fiat 'currency') gold prices are down, but not gold sales.

Because they are suffering under financial repression. Even losing investment propositions such as Chinese property is preferable to having money in the bank at low official rates while inflation burns away the value of their savings.

What else happened in 2013

At the beginning of the year J.P. Morgan was short some 75,000 gold contracts and 35,000 silver contracts on the COMEX.

The gold & silver prices then fell heavily.

While this was happening J.P. Morgan was able to close out these short positions thereby earning some $3 billion.

And by the end of the year JPM was able to go long roughly 75,000 gold contracts (total change some 150,000 contracts) WITHOUT the gold price rising. In the meantime JPM is now taking delivery of tons of gold & silver.

Do they know something that I don't?

Answers on postcards to......

Apparently early 2014 is the best time to buy gold. There are bomb shelters that can serve storage space for precious metal, therefore Swiss housing comes handy

http://www.scmp.com/business/commodi...-time-buy-gold

Gold took 30 years from peak to trough last time, we are only 3 years into a correction so far. I suspect gold will be better value in 10 years time than today.

But keeping this "decade time" mindest towards all kind of investments won't allow us to enjoy "life of our time" fully

30 years? Wasn't it closer to 20?

Yes sorry 22 years January 1980 $850 to July 2002 $303. So anybody buying gold 34 years ago at $850 has not kept the buying power of their money, a high interest bank account over the period would have done very much better.
How can you get any enjoyment out of holding gold? It produces nothing......

...but peace of mind.

(Holding gold isn't meant to 'produce' anything, it's a store of wealth, an insurance against the machinations of central bankers, their fiat currencies and their profits vis-a-vis the unwitting public. Contrary to popular misperceptions, it's neither an investment nor a quest for profit.)

It's not a store of wealth at all as anyone who bought in 1980 or in the last 3 1/2 years has found out. It's value is based on what a greater or lessor fool will pay nothing else.

Time will tell.

How long are you talking, 5 years, 25 years or 50 years? And from what buying price?