CHINESE RUSH TO SPEND MONEY.(BUSINESS)

Byline: DAN BIERS - Associated Press

With the final hours of 1993 ticking away, a cabbie named Zhang hurriedly counted a fistful of money Friday to buy two heart-shaped gold pendants.

Zhang was among hundreds of Beijing residents who rushed to the upscale Yansha Department Store's gold center to spend their private caches of special foreign exchange scrip before its value nose dives New Year's Day.

The crush forced shoppers to impatiently line up outside the center for their chance to go for the gold, which Chinese traditionally view as a safe investment in turbulent times. Inside, chic young women in thick makeup squeezed next to dowdy older …