Late last year, a 63-year-old woman from Zhengzhou in Henan Province made headlines with a brief ad in search of "a female travel companion aged 19-24."

The lady was planning a trip to Sanya, on the island of Hainan, which is often referred to as "China's Hawaii." With her only daughter having moved to Canada and her husband away hiking with friends, she considered taking a group tour. But the prospect of being a solitary traveler among families and groups of friends did not appeal. She wanted a companion "to chat and take pictures with." She promised all travel expenses would be paid and threw in an iPhone 7 as an additional gift.

With an aging population and people born in the 1960s coming up to retirement, perceptions of life in one's later years are changing in China.

"Isn't this just too much?" said Liu jokingly as he showed off pictures of his old school friends running marathons and riding bikes. But the 53-year-old who runs a Shanghai consulting company is every bit as active. He got his scuba license in Thailand last year and goes diving to take underwater pictures for his own social media feed every chance he gets.

The generation born in the 1960s is China's first to reap the benefits of the country's rapid growth. Their children marry later in life than they did, and for many becoming grandparents is on hold for now, meaning they have time and money to enjoy a second youth.

The traditional approach to senior-related business has been to target their children, who have greater consuming power and are keen to return favors to their parents. Times have changed, however, seniors are now consuming for themselves and there are more and more new products for people over 50. Foods, supplements and toiletries developed to promote longevity and anti-aging are growing increasingly popular.

People in China aged 65 or older is projected to number 230 million in 2030. Winning over active seniors will be an increasingly important consideration in business strategy.

Kosuke Okame is a Shanghai-based business and market research consultant.