'Bank Land' Fever Brings Luck in China

According to the South China Morning Post, the price of "bank soil" can be up to 888 yuan (about 3 million VND) for a jar or small bag.

According to the advertisement, these pots of soil can be collected from green areas around banks, potted plants in lobbies or even dust from cash registers.

One online vendor has introduced four different types of soil, allegedly collected from five major banks: Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of Communications. The cheapest one costs only 24 yuan (about 75 thousand VND).

“These clay pots are hand-collected from five major banks and are believed to help attract wealth and ward off negative energy. However, we cannot prove this scientifically,” a vendor explained.

Shops advertise that their “lucky soil” is collected at different times of the day. One shop says its soil is collected at night from green spaces in front of banks, while another says it is only collected at noon. One seller even promises that its soil has a 999.999% chance of attracting wealth.

Some stores even posted videos to prove the authenticity of their products. In one video, a man stood at the entrance of a bank holding a bucket of soil and shouted, “Boss Liu from Guangdong, your soil is ready!”

Another video shows a man scooping up dirt from underneath, then pouring it into a jar of gold, along with slips of paper with customers' contact information.

One unnamed buyer told Red Star News that they run a business and believe the land will help their business grow. Many of their friends have also bought land with similar hopes.

However, Fu Jian, a lawyer at Zejin Law Firm, warned that if stores sell other types of soil and make false claims about its origin, or claim that the soil can bring good luck, this could be considered fraud. Consumers have the right to ask for a refund. He also stressed that according to urban landscape regulations, no one is allowed to destroy urban green spaces, including digging up soil.

The strange business was quickly ridiculed on Chinese social media.

One social media user commented: “What kind of bank has land? I work at a bank and have to bring soil from home to plant trees in the office.”

Another person wondered: “I live next to a bank, why isn’t my luck improving?”