淘金路上的中国“大妈”Chinese Dama On the Gold Road

The term "Dama" was allegedly coined by The Wall Street Journal in America, and is literally translated as big mama.It refers to those "bargain-hunting middle-aged Chinese women" who "keep a tight grip on the family purse and an eagle eye on gold prices."Their taste for gold as an investment has seen billions of yuan poured into acquiring gold all around the world.
“Dama"这个词据说原自于美国《华尔街日报》，也被直译成了“大妈”，指的是那些爱便宜货、牢牢看住自家的钱袋子，对黄金价格相当敏锐的中年女性。她们大量收购黄金作为投资的脚步已经遍布全世界。

The dawning of the New Year has not seen a waning in their enthusiasm for the metal, both as a commodity and as an asset.
新年伊始，不论黄金是作为一般的商品还是资产投资，中国大妈们的热情仍然不减。

With the gold price continuing to plunge, sales of gold jewelry and investment products boomed on New Year's Day in China. Damas in Beijing flooded into stores on New Year 's Day, snapping up gold products as gifts for their loved ones.
随着金价的持续走低，元旦期间，黄金首饰及其投资产品大受欢迎。北京的大妈们冲进商场，抢购黄金产品作为礼物送给家人。

Wang Chunli is the general manager of the Caibai Department Store in Beijing. She said that within an hour of opening, they witnessed sales of some 10 million yuan. The total turnover of our 17 branches is well positioned to exceed 200 million yuan.
王春丽（音译）是北京菜百商场的总经理，她介绍说，营业后的一个小时里，营业额就达到了几千万。17家分店全天总营业额超过2亿元。

Horse-shaped gold jewelry was the most popular items purchased, as the Year of the Horse was around the corner in accordance with the Chinese calendar. Caibai Department Store reported sales of several hundred pieces of jewelry within the first hour of opening.
马年即将到来，所以马形首饰最受欢迎。据菜百商场的负责人说，在开张的第一小时里，这样的首饰就卖了几百件。

"I arrivedatabout 9 o'clock this morning. I just bought one gold product after having lined up for such a long time. There's still more stuff I want to buy. The price of the gold is a little bit cheaper now. As an outsider, since I came to Beijing, I would like to buy some gold products as souvenirs,"a customer said.
一个顾客说：“我是今天早上约9点钟到的，排了那么长的队才刚买了一件，我还要买别的。现在金价便宜了。作为一个外地人，自从我到了北京，我就想买点黄金产品做纪念品。”

Some shoppers bought three or four calabash-shaped and leaf-shaped coins in one go due to their low prices and exquisite craft.The sales of gold bars also soared. Yu Guiying is the general manager of the Taiyang gold store in Beijing. She introduced, "The price of gold today is 239 yuan, the lowest in recent years. The sales volume of gold bars today is three times higher than average days."
金葫芦和金叶子价格便宜，制作精美，有些顾客一气买上三四个。金条的销量也猛增。余桂英（音译）是北京太阳金店的经理, 她介绍说：“今天的金价是239元，是近年的最低价，所以今天的金条销量比平时高出三倍。”

Chinese "Damas" dominated activity in the gold market last year.The massive sell offs in gold assets in May of 2013 and subsequent dip in prices prompted Chinese Damas to snatch up around 300 tons of gold products.
去年，中国“大妈”控制了黄金市场。2013年5月，国际金价暴跌，随后中国大妈疯狂抢金，约300吨黄金被扫。
 

A 12-year rally in gold prices saw the value of the metal surge from $ 253 an ounce to $ 1,920 an ounce - an increase of over 650 percent.
12年间，金价从253美元/盎司涨到1,920美元/盎司，上涨率超过了650%。

However, 2013 saw gold prices plunge, attracting even more investment from Chinese Damas, who saw it as an opportunity to snap up what they saw as an under-priced asset.Chinese Damas spent hundreds of billion yuan to buy gold over the past year, triggering panic buying across Asia, from the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong to Singapore.
但2013年黄金价格震撼暴跌，中国大妈们狂买黄金，她们认为这是投资的好机会。她们一年里购买黄金上千亿，引起了中国大陆、香港和新加坡乃至整个亚洲的恐慌性购买。
 
However, Miss Wang, an investor in Shenzhen thought the investors seldom earned this year--the ups and downs happened too quickly.
但深圳的投资者王小姐认为这一年里投资挣钱的人很少，因为涨涨跌跌变化太快了。

On the other hand, gold sellers earned a lot in the past year. Lin Lin is a gold jewelry shop owner in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province. She owns three gold jewelry shops, each of which saw more than a million yuan in profit during 2013.
另一方面，黄金卖家在去年倒是挣了不少。林琳（音译）是广东中山的一家金店老板，她开了三家金店，每家在2013年的利润都超过100万。

Besides gold dealers, gold processing enterprises were also very busy in the past year. Yan Jiansu, manager of Gift Company in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, tells us: "Our company ran just two small processing plants before. prompted by the prosperous gold market, we have three times employees and have expanded our processing area twice."
除了黄金卖家，去年黄金加工厂也生意兴隆。严建素（音译）是深圳一家礼品公司的经理，他告诉我们，“我们公司以前只有两家小加工厂，黄金市场大涨，我们现在的员工人数涨了三倍，加工厂房也增加了两倍。”

As gold sales boom at the beginning of the New Year, in the background of generally bearish for gold in 2014, how will Chinese Dama behave in the gold market? Let's wait and see.
新年伊始黄金销售依旧红火，但在2014年金价行情走低的背景下，中国大妈们在黄金市场上将会怎样如何操作，我们还得拭目以待。