Zhao Xiaokai took a 12-hour train ride from Beijing to Hangzhou last September, carrying 50,000 yuan ($6,600) in his pocket. He was on his way to salvage a medical case that occupies a special niche in China's Olympic history.

Before validating his ownership of the case, the businessman and collector had to persuade the elderly son of the owner, Shu Hong, the first Chinese referee for basketball events at the Olympics, and engage in bitter negotiations with archive office staff at a local university.

At the 13th World Olympic Collectors Fair held from June 23-28 this year in Beijing, the first of its kind in China, the medical case on display in a private exhibition room was in the limelight.

"I would say this collection has brought me fame and fortune," said Zhao, one of an estimated 10 to 50 professional Olympic collectors in China.

While Zhao started collecting in 2003, Li Xiang, 46, started his Olympic treasure trove in 1993 when Beijing lost its first Olympic bid to Sydney.

After two years' of negotiating with a German collector, Li managed to acquire a torch from the 1936 Berlin Games and other Olympic items worth about 50,000 yuan at the same collectors fair.

There are only 3,000 such torches worldwide.

"Trading among Olympic collectors is like exchanges by primitive man, trading one item for another," joked Li, saying he was happy with the deal.

Li, who used to be an archeologist in a museum in East China's Shandong Province, said he has always been fascinated by cultural and historical artifacts. He also designed a series of silver plates that are among the Olympic memorabilia products for the Beijing Games.

"Historically speaking, industrial development in Europe has contributed a great deal to the production of high-quality sports memorabilia," said Li, explaining why China has fallen behind in this area.

"Also, our country used to see sports as merely a form of leisure and ignore the importance of sports memorabilia as a way to fostering an athletic spirit," he said.

"Now Olympic collectors are still limited mostly to people like sports veterans and sports journalists," said Gu Binghua, former director of China Sports Museum.

Gu, who visited the first World Olympic Collectors Fair in Lausanne, Switzerland, said there were just three Chinese collectors at that fair.

"I hope that every Chinese person can have some Olympic memorabilia in their home after the Beijing Games, just like Li," he said.

Maurizio Tecardi, member of the Olympic Philately, Numismatic and Memorabilia Commission, also thinks it is necessary for Chinese people to know the different branches of the Olympics.

"There has been a very important evolution in terms of the Chinese collectors," said Tecardi, who attended a collectors' fair during the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.

Meanwhile, Roman Babut, a Polish philately collector said:

"I've looked at Chinese collections from every Games. You've got one very good collection from each, so now you have four or five very good collections in China," he said.

"Needless to say, building a collection is a good investment," said Zhao Xiaokai.

"But collecting gives you more than just cash. It ennobles your spirit."