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)

Sydneysiders walk amongst tar figures placed in the CBD to raise awareness about the damage smoking causes to the body at Martin Place on June 30, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. Each of the tar figures represent the profile of smokers, from the casual weekend smoker to the one with a lifelong addiction. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

A South Korean soldier wear North Korea's military uniform, acting as North Korean soldier during an anti-terror and anti-chemical drill session held as part of the 2011 Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) event on August 17, 2011 in Seoul, South Korea. The 11-day UGC, which features drills including the handling of chemical and biological attacks, is a regular joint exercise between US and South Korean troops to prepare for potential emergencies on the Korean Peninsula. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

In this photo taken Wednesday, November 26, 2014 attack dogs and their handlers apprehend a “rhino poacher” center, after alighting from a helicopter into water, in a simulation exercise showing training at an academy run by the Paramount Group, near Rustenburg, South Africa. The course prepares canine units to find firearms or contraband, track suspects in the undergrowth and abseil in harnesses from helicopters in pursuit of poachers. Dogs and handlers learn to trust each other and fine tune a relationship balancing control and aggression. (Photo by Denis Farrell/AP Photo)

Russian police detain a protester at a demonstration against President Vladimir Putin in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, May 5, 2018. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Russian riot policemen beat young PREGNANT female anti-Putin activist during a protest rally against the Presidential inauguration of Vladimir Putin on May 6, 2012 in Moscow, Russia.

Activists protest the Shell Oil Company's drilling rig Polar Pioneer which is parked at Terminal 5 at the Port of Seattle, Washington May 16, 2015. Hundreds of activists in kayaks and small boats fanned out on a Seattle bay on Saturday to protest plans by Royal Dutch Shell to resume oil exploration in the Arctic and keep two of its drilling rigs stored in the city's port. (Photo by Jason Redmond/Reuters)

A woman walk by South Korean police during a anti-terror exercise on March 9, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. The drill is part of South Korea's preparation for the upcoming 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, scheduled for March 26 and 27. Some 50 world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, are expected to attend the summit to discuss how to make the world safe without nuclear weapons. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)