Chinese ancient books set record of highest auction price Photo taken on May 5, 2012 shows the only existing copy of "jinxiu wanhua g...

Chinese ancient books set record of highest auction price

Photo taken on May 5, 2012 shows the only existing copy of "jinxiu wanhua gu" (Valley of ten thousand flowers like embroidered brocades) from the Guoyun Lou Book Collection at the library of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.(Xinhua/Long Wei)

College students majoring in cultural relic restoration view the only existing copy of "jinxiu wanhua gu" (Valley of ten thousand flowers like embroidered brocades) from the Guoyun Lou Book Collection at Nanjing Library in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, May 21, 2012.(Xinhua/Long Wei)

Experts Fan Jingzhong (L) and Xue Ke view the only existing copy of "jinxiu wanhua gu" (Valley of ten thousand flowers like embroidered brocades) from the Guoyun Lou Book Collection at the library of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, May 5, 2012.(Xinhua/Long Wei)

Photo taken on May 5, 2012 shows visitors viewing ancient books from the Guoyun Lou Book Collection at the library of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Long Wei)

Part of the Guoyun Lou Book Collection was sold with 188 million yuan RMB (about 29.84 million U.S. dollars) at an auction in Beijing on Monday night, setting a record of highest auction price for Chinese ancient books. The Guoyun Lou Collection referred to ancient books and artworks collected by a Gu family in Suzhou of east China's Jiangsu Province. The bid selection included about 500 ancient books, some of which were the only copy extant.