When gold price tumbled in the spring of 2013, Chinese consumers took advantage of the lower prices and nearly swept away gold coins, bars and jewelry in China. After the "gold rush" was gone, recently, Chinese investors start eyeing a real estate project on Jeju Island of South Korea.  

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In 2012, Greenland, which is a state-owned large-scale enterprise of China, signed a bilateral agreement with Jeju International City Development Center on December. Later, they signed a Memorandum of Understanding to confirm the partnership would began to work on the Greenland Jeju Healthcare Tourism Town, in Donghong-dong, Seogwipo city on October 30^th, 2012. The Greenland group added Jeju Island to its real estate portfolio and the first phase of construction has progressed successfully.

Though the Greenland Jeju Healthcare Tourism Town hasn't been finished yet, Chinese homebuyers have already decided to buy houses on Jeju Island. Greenland Korea Marketing Director Wang Zhiyu was amazed by Chinese buyers' courage. He said: "At that time, there was nothing on the construction site, let alone the outline of those houses. Even the sample rooms hadn't come out yet. But even so, many Chinese buyers still purchased houses in the Greenland Jeju Healthcare Tourism Town in advance."

In fact, it is not a unique instance. In 2010, 155 Chinese investors visited Jeju and went straight to Raon Private Town to examine the luxury second homes currently under construction. By the time they ended their two-night stay on Jeju, those Chinese investors had signed contracts for a whopping 58 homes.

Why is Jeju Island so popular among Chinese investors? To promote home sales on Jeju, the provincial government grants permanent residency to any foreigner who buys a home here worth more than $500, 000 and shows a clean track record for five years after the purchase.

A Chinese homebuyers said: "Compared to the $800,000 to $900,000 it took to buy permanent residency in Hong Kong, it is much cheaper in Jeju to get a green card." In addition, many buyers are satisfied with the cheap prices and high-qualified air on Jeju Island. Jeju has clean water and blue skies, the four seasons of Jeju attracts tourists and as a close foreign city to China, it is a convenient visa-free destination for Chinese tourists.