A participant falls on vintage skis during a traditional historical ski race in the northern Bohemian town of Smrzovka February 21, 2015. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

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)

A participant jumps on vintage skis during a traditional historical ski race in the northern Bohemian town of Smrzovka, Czech Republic, February 20, 2016. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

Shortlisted: Sólheimasandur aircraft crash site, Iceland by Ollie Conway. (Photo by Ollie Conway/Historic Photographer of the Year Awards 2019/The Guardian)

A vintage military aircraft is seen parked ahead of the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE) at the Arturo Merino Benitez international airport in Santiago, Chile March 29, 2016. (Photo by Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters)

People take photographs of waves crashing against the harbour wall on January 3, 2012 in Porthcawl, Wales. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Australia's State Emergency Service (SES) personnel gather at the scene of a light plane crash near the Capital Golf Course, in Melbourne, Australia, 22 June 2021. A pilot was injured and rushed to hospital after his light plane crashed shortly after taking off from Moorabbin Airport. (Photo by James Ross/EPA/EFE)

A participant in the 5th Lady on Bicycle annual festival opens her bag in the back basket of her tricycle in the Sokolniki park in Moscow on August 6, 2017. The festival's aim is to capture the city's fashionable women on vintage style bicycles. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)