In recent news from February 3, 2026, the iconic building known as the “Silver Mansion of the World” in Yongxing, Chenzhou, Hunan Province, with a silver consumption of about 50,000 taels, encountered a failed auction on the Alibaba judicial auction platform. Despite the continuous rise in the price of silver in recent years, the net silver price after evaluation is only about 6.88 yuan (Chinese currency, hereinafter the same) per gram. This seemingly “bargain-priced” asset has received no takers, drawing attention from the market.
The landmark building “Yongxing Silver Mansion” in Yongxing County, Chenzhou City, consumed about 50,000 taels of silver during its construction, earning the nickname “Silver Mansion of the World” or “Fifty Thousand Taels of Silver”. The auction platform shows that this asset has recently entered the judicial auction process.
According to reports by Jiemu News, the Yongxing Silver Mansion is located in the “First Silver Village in China” scenic area of Yongxing County. It was built by Hunan Xinda Company as the Chinese Silver Cultural Museum and was completed in 2007, with the plaque on the building named “Silver Mansion of the World.”
According to the Alibaba auction platform, the entrusting party for this auction is Hunan Xinda Silver Industry Co., Ltd., with the subject matter being an industrial land, buildings on the ground, seedlings, silver in the silver mansion, silver Buddha statues, and sculptures at 256 Yongxing Avenue, Bianjiang Street, Yongxing County.
A price evaluation report uploaded by Hunan Xinda on the platform states that the silver mansion is composed of 50,000 taels of silver. According to the “Minutes of Silver Mansion Value Conference,” the silver pricing date for this auction was January 23, 2025. There is no objection to the total weight of silver being 50,000 taels, and it is unanimously agreed that the pure silver content is 70%, meaning that out of the 50,000 taels (2.5 tons) of silver, there is 1.75 tons of pure silver, with an evaluation price of 6.884 yuan per gram of pure silver.
Due to the recent significant increase in the price of silver, the investment price of silver in the market has exceeded 29 yuan per gram. Based on this estimation, the value of 1.75 tons of pure silver has exceeded 50 million yuan.
The auction started on January 16, with two bidders participating, but ultimately no one placed a bid, resulting in the project being scrapped.
This incident has sparked discussions among netizens: “This is practically selling for a throwaway price, almost like giving it away.” “This is selling at a loss.” “With silver prices rising so much, dismantling and selling the pure silver would rake in huge profits.” “Can it be auctioned and then dismantled for sale?”
It is widely believed in the market that the lack of bidders for the silver mansion is due to restrictions in the auction’s additional conditions.
The auction notice for the Yongxing Silver Mansion includes six special instructions, among which the fifth one states: “Once the buyer wins the bid for this item, they must continue to maintain its core positioning as the ‘Chinese Silver Cultural Museum (Silver Mansion of the World)’ in the cultural tourism area, strictly adhere to the established planning functions and operational direction, and not alter the usage arbitrarily.
The asset management personnel representing the project’s entrusted party have stated that they are currently seeking potential investors for the project and will relist it for auction through the platform in the future.
It has been explicitly stated that the re-auction will still be listed based on the evaluation price of 12.047 million yuan (corresponding to a pure silver price of 6.884 yuan per gram), without revaluating due to the rise in the silver market price.
Furthermore, in accordance with local requirements, the project must maintain its cultural tourism positioning, so the buyer is prohibited from demolishing the silver mansion building after acquiring the asset.
Some netizens have expressed, “With such a large amount of silver, it’s inconvenient for circulation, and dismantling it would result in losing its added value.”