in terms of where to store gold... i think you should store your gold in a variety of places. you can buy a fireproof at walmart for $20 which is a good place to keep your gold if you're keeping it at your house. so keep some gold in your house... but obviously don't tell anyone that you're doing this. and you can keep your physical gold in your house in a few differnet places... like maybe bury some in the backyard, put some in your cloathing drawers, and maybe put some under the sink... or where ever. also, you can keep some in a safety depsoit box at a bank. and you can keep some gold offshore using services like the Perth Mint in Australia or goldmoney.com in London and/or Switzerland. so there's lots of places to keep your gold... and depending on how much gold you own, you should try to keep it in a variety of places. first and foremost, you should have the physical metal in your possession at your home hidden in a good spot... and then secondly, keep some gold offshore so that your gold will be there waiting for you if you ever need it.
in terms of good sites to buy gold from...
http://www.apmex.com/
that's the main site for people buying gold online. they deliver the physical metal to your house.
or order from these guys if you want the old american gold coins that has numismatic value
http://www.allamericangold.com/
if you're just getting into the gold and silver markets, i would just stick with modern issue gold coins from ampex.
just buy 1oz gold coins like Canaidan Maple Leafs, American Eagles, South Aferican krugerrands, etc. you can order any of these from ampex.
so in terms of buying gold to keep in your possession, buying those 1oz gold coins from ampex is probably the best way to go. and if you want to keep some gold offshore, then the Perth Mint (sold through EuroPacific Capital at europac.net) and goldmoney.com are probably the best ways to keep your gold offshore.
another option for gold and silver is the Central Fund of Canada (CEF) which is easy to buy because it is just the same as buying a stock... so this is probably the third best option for owning gold.
so i think the best way to own gold is to have it in your physical possesion at your house... and you can order this gold though websites like ampex.... and the next best option is to own gold that is stored offshore like the Perth Mint and goldmoney.com... and i think the third best option is to own gold with stocks like the Central Fund of Canada (ticker symbol CEF). i think you should stay clear of the etfs like GLD.
and obviously investing in China is probably a good long term investment strategy... but of course you have to realize that there is some risk involved, and you could see stocks in China go way down for a while... but as long as you're in it for the long haul and you're okay with the volitility... then stocks in China should do well. obviously some stocks in China will do better than others... but if i had the option of keeping money in the US stock market or the China stock market, i would take the China stock market anyday.
i get the impression that you're taking the Peter Schiff strategy (like most of us on this forum are taking)... in which case, just call up a europac broker and talk to them about this stuff... and they'll talk to you all about the new china mutual fund and the perth mint program and they'll hook you up with all your investment needs.
you should realize that investing in precious metals and foreign stocks can risky (though i think it's way more risky in the long run to just hold cash)... so if you decide to go ahead with this investment strategy, you need to be confident in what you're doing and not get scared out if prices fall. as long as you understand fundamentally what you are doing, and you're prepared to ride out any downswings (no matter how painful)... then i think this is a good long term strategy
