SHANGHAI, June 1 -- Wu Guanzhong's "Ancient City of Jiaohe" sold for a record 37 million yuan (US$4.8 million) last night at Poly Auction Co in Beijing, on the day the Chinese stock market recovered from its worst slump in three months.

The one-square-meter depiction of a ruined city, painted during Wu's 1981 teaching sojourn in western China's Xinjiang province, was estimated by Poly to sell for 15 million yuan. The buyer was identified only by his surname Cai, according to Bloomberg.

Cai was among hundreds of collectors crowding Poly's inaugural night sale, scheduled to avoid clashing with the spate of summer art auctions that typically take place on weekends in the Chinese capital. Of 65 paintings on offer, 48 reached or exceeded their high estimates. The sale totaled 247 million yuan.

"People have gone crazy," said Sun Liangliang, after his 4 million yuan bid for Shi Chong's "Contemporary Scenery" was surpassed by a rival's 15 million yuan offer. "They're paying 10 million yuan as if it's 100,000 yuan. If you want prove that there's too much money in Beijing, just watch this market."

Cai, a private collector who declined to give his full name, bought two of the eight Wu Guanzhong oil paintings on auction, paying 42 million yuan, not including a 10 percent buyer's premium.

"Jiaohe" was last sold in 1991 by Sotheby's Holdings auction for HK$2.55 million (US$326,900), a record at that time for Chinese oil paintings outside the country.

"Jiaohe is the epitome of Wu's work," said Chang Tiangu, Poly's art director. "This is the piece that a true collector and admirer of Wu's work would aspire to."

Poly's record prices extend a trend that has seen paintings from China's contemporary artists regularly sell for many times the expected price. On Sunday, Christie's International sold a record US$79 million of 20th century Chinese art and Asian Contemporary works. Yue Minjun's "Portrait of the Artist and His Friends" fetched HK$20.5 million, five times the presale top estimate.

At Poly's auction, Yue's "Untitled" sold for 1.7 million yuan, beating the 1.2 million yuan top estimate.

Wang Yidong's "Innocent Years," depicting a newlywed couple's journey home, sold for an artist record of 8.5 million yuan, beating the 6.7 million yuan fetched in December for his oil painting of a girl playing cards.

Wang, 52, paints in a signature style that dresses a maiden entirely in bright red against a backdrop that's usually a darkened interior or the stark snow-covered landscape of his native Shandong province. He began his art training at 17 and has held exhibitions in Tokyo, Paris, Rome and the US.

Three oil paintings by Zeng Fanzhi, a favorite among overseas collectors of Chinese contemporary art, surpassed top estimates. His "Mask No. 14" sold for 8 million yuan, his portrait "Andy Warhol" fetched 2.4 million yuan, while "Landscape" sold at 4 million yuan.

Mao Yan's "Memory or the Dancing Black Rose" sold for 9.1 million yuan, triple the top estimate.

The auction wasn't all smooth sailing. Xia Xing's "Perfume in February" was auctioned twice. The painting depicting a naked maiden was first sold for 820,000 yuan. Fifteen minutes later the auctioneer put the painting back on the block. This time the hammer came down at 750,000 yuan -- to a different winner. Poly officials declined to explain the discrepancy.