Some are in it just for the money, others to help buy a meal. Then there are those who trade for fun or to spend time among friends. Millions of investors – pensioners, security guards, high-school students – dominate China's stock markets, conducting about 80 percent of all trades. Retirees gather in brokerage houses dotted around China also to enjoy some company and savour the air conditioning on hot days. Some start as young as 13, trading from home with an eye on future careers in finance. Winning isn't guaranteed. This year, among the most turbulent in China's financial history, its stock markets more than doubled in the six months to May, only to crash amid concerns that growth in the country, which makes everything from cars to steel, is slowing faster than previously thought. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Wendy Adriaens, owner of animal rescue farm “De Passiehoeve” and nicknamed the Ostrich Whisperer, poses for a photo with three-year-old male ostrich Flodder, in Kalmthout, Belgium, 25 July 2022. (Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A general view shows the wreckage of armed trucks on the streets of Budapest at the time of the uprising against the Soviet-supported Hungarian communist regime in 1956. The picture was taken in the period between October 23 and November 4, 1956. (Photo by Laszlo Almasi/Reuters)

A woman wearing a face mask has her hair curled by a special equipment at a beauty salon in Bangkok on July 12, 2020. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

A woman crowd-surfs in front of the main stage at the Woodstock Festival in Kostrzyn-upon-Odra, close to the Polish-German border, August 2, 2014. Some 500 thousand people attended the festival that is the brainchild of Polish journalist and social campaigner Jerzy Owsiak. He initiated the event to say thank you to those who donated money to his GOCC charity organisation that delivers medical care for children. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Bride Ana Vallejos, wearing a traditional “Caporales” Andean outfit, is escorted by her parents to her wedding celebration, in La Paz, Bolivia, Saturday, December 12, 2020. As a measure to reactivate the economy, the Bolivian government lifted restrictions to help curve the spread of the new coronavirus. Sporting, religious and cultural events may take place publicly until mid-January. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

A girl carries on her head a pile of dried shrubs she gathered for cooking and heating, in Kabul, Afghanistan November 18, 2015. (Photo by Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

Shaymaa Ismaa’eel, a 24-year-old Muslim woman passes by a group of angry protesters at an Islamic conference in Washington, DC on April 21, 2019. In response, she crouched in front of them and flashed a peace sign. The photo, posted on Instagram, prompted an outpouring of support. (Photo by Shaymaa Ismaa'eel/Instagram)