Timber, re your post 'If the chart on Chinese gold imports is correct, the Chinese would appear to be among the worst investors in history. It seems they did very little in gold until it topped in 2011, and they have been buying it all the way down.
Maybe their best value is as a contrarian indicator and we are better off on the other side of the trade.'
You are thinking with a Western hat on, to China this is not a trade or not in the sense we make a trade, they are investing in their future & have a much longer time horizon than we in the West do as I'm sure you are aware.
Remember China also take in their own production of around 400 tons pa & that is at production cost. Chinese buying also accelerated when gold got below $1300, so yes perhaps on average their buying is 'out of the money' right now, however if you intend to keep on buying for years & perhaps decades to come, this could be the cheapest gold you will get ever get on market again from those 'dumb' short term thinking westerners.
