很多人应该听说过保洁大妈拿出600万拯救公司的故事。
当然也有业务员靠在广场上跳舞与大妈们打成一片，从而实现业绩月月翻、走上人生巅峰的故事。
In China, elderly women between 50 and 70 years of age with deep pockets and plenty of leisure time have been empowered along with the country's remarkable economic rise, and they are growing to become a major force in the country's economy.
The group, called "dama" in Chinese (meaning "big mama"), gained global fame with a victory against financial titans in 2013 by bottoming out gold when its price plunged, crushing Wall Street's dreams of short-selling the metal on the global market.
这个汉语中名为“大妈”的群体，在2013年一战成名。她们在金价暴跌时抄底入场，从而战胜了金融巨头，粉碎了华尔街在全球市场做空黄金的梦想。
But their influence has since expanded far beyond that.
随后，她们的影响力便一发不可收拾。
经常在公园或者广场上成群结队跳舞的中国大妈也吸引了不同行业营销人员的浓厚兴趣。她们在巴黎和纽约横扫珠宝店和百货公司，为当地GDP做出了不菲的贡献。她们涌向国内外房地产市场进行投资，又可能会推高当地的房价。
据估，全国约有1亿大妈，这个数字相当于日本的总人口。她们对国内和全球经济都产生了巨大的影响，从而创造出中国独特的“大妈经济”现象。
以出境旅游为例。据中青旅市场部经理徐晓磊介绍，五一假期期间，该平台上的大妈游客数量稳步增长，占出境游客总数的24%，成为各年龄段中第二大出境游客源。
老年人在旅行上花的钱也更多。携程的一位发言人称，中国大妈在海外旅行的平均支出为5813元，比中国游客的平均支出高出30%。
在巴黎工作的中国导游莎拉说，随着购买力的提升，相比以前为了孩子和丈夫买东西，大妈们的消费习惯也逐渐转向“为取悦自己而买买买”。
她说：“刚刚过去的这个假期里，一些大妈在老佛爷一口气买了三个大牌包包... 而几年前，她们脑子里想的全都是要给家人买这买那。”
China's improved social security scheme, which guarantees lifelong medical insurance and pension benefits after retirement, has also diminished the need for elderly Chinese to have abundant savings in their later years.
"I will be given a 6,000-yuan retirement pension every month after retirement. The social welfare scheme raises my confidence for the future and lends me the courage to spend," said Chen Qiaozhu, 53, who lives in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province.
China's booming dama economy also mirrors the rising social and economic status of women, as more and more well-educated and financially independent women, including older women, have gained a say on family wealth.
Chen Qiaozhu, who budgets her family's spending, has been "cautiously testing the waters" in purchasing jewelry and precious metals as a way to preserve and increase family assets.
In past years, Chen has bought several properties, not only in Xiamen, but also in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province. Thanks to her "financial sense and instinct," her family wealth has at least doubled amid China's housing price hikes.
Now Chen has withdrawn from the real estate market as she says room for future appreciation is limited. "China's stock market has been too volatile to pour money into, so I have to find another hot spot for investment," Chen told the Global Times, adding she regrets "missing the golden era for investing in bitcoin."
She, like many affluent older women in China, feels insecure holding paper notes and is eager for more profitable investment channels. A manger at China Merchants Bank in Beijing's Chaoyang district surnamed Jie, told the Global Times that dama account for more than 70 percent of the clients who come to her for advice on purchasing wealth management products.
As most of the dama generation's children have entered the workforce and could potentially face financial pressure when getting married and settling down, such investment is also a way to prepare money for their children, Jie said.
Shen Jian, a 50-something retired teacher in a third-tier city in East China's Jiangsu Province, said she aspires to "prepare a dowry for her 27-year-old daughter." She used most of her savings to snag a two-year bond issued by the local government in June last year, with an annual interest rate of 8.8 percent.
She did not disclose the exact amount she bought, but the threshold for purchasing such bonds is at least 1 million yuan.
Both Chen and Shen said they do not like to be identified as dama because such women are typically portrayed as uneducated, gossipy, short-sighted and brash investors. "As China's economy has progressed, the meaning of 'dama' has changed significantly now. Yes, we're energetic, but we're also elegant, eager for novel things and have a rational approach to investment," Chen stressed.
Traditionally considered savers, wealthy older Chinese women, who now boast growing consumption power, have become targets for different marketers who wish to mine gold in the "dama economy."
While travel agencies, such as CYTS and Ctrip, have launched personalized travel packages that include more shopping stops to appeal to the cohort, some industry players have also spotted plenty of opportunities in the most popular sport among dama: square dancing.
According to a report issued by e-commerce platform Taobao.com, the online monthly sales volume of square dance-related products such as clothes, shoes and audio products totaled 25 million yuan. based on the figure, analysts estimated that the market for plaza dance-related products could be as large as 2 billion yuan every year.
Almost all the dama the Global Times talked to said they dance in public squares at least twice a week during their spare time. Their obsession has given birth to apps that offer tutorials and provide a communication platform for middle-aged dancers, such as Tangdou Square Dance, which has been called the elderly version of the popular short-video platform Douyin.
The app now has more than 200 million elderly users. To further make a profit, the app, based on its wide senior user base, is now exploring e-commerce models as well as other offline business models, such as dance training and tourism, Zhang Yuan, founder and CEO of Tangdou, told the Global Times.
All industry insiders seemed to be thrilled to be capitalizing on the elderly cohort, whose spending power has largely been underestimated by the market.
"Maybe whoever wins the hearts of dama also wins the future," Jie said.
所以，不要看不起广场上跳舞的大妈，几十年后我们都会成为大妈，为国家经济做出巨大贡献。什么，你说你是男的?没关系，你会成为大妈旁边递水伴舞的大爷。
英文：Li Xuanmin
图：网络
版权作品，未经环球网 huanqiu.com 书面授权，严禁转载，违者将被追究法律责任。
