China's Shang Chunsong prepares to compete in the uneven bars event of the women's individual all-around final artistic gymnastics competition at the Namdong Gymnasium Club during the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, in this September 23, 2014 file photo. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

People pose for photos with scarecrow installations during the Scarecrow Art Festival at Huatuo Baicao Garden on November 22, 2025 in Bozhou, Anhui Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Spain’s fans react after their team lost the match against Italy while watching the match in a bar during the Euro 2020 soccer championship semifinal match between Italy and Spain, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Tuesday, July 6, 2021. (Photo by Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)

A woman wearing a burka walks through a bird market as she holds her child, in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 8, 2022. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public – a sharp, hard-line pivot that confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and was bound to further complicate Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international community. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

A girl competes in a hobby horsing competition in St. Petersburg, Russia, April 21, 2024. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

An Afghan refugee girl shows her younger brother a calf in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, February 6, 2015. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)

When you think of the People's Liberation Army, you probably don't think of line dancing. But the Chinese military's latest online recruiting video makes a soldier's life look more fun than the macarena. The brief spot, posted last week on the website of the Ministry of National Defense and going viral, features tanks and fighter jets, as well as soldiers dancing in rows to a quirky hit tune by the Chopsticks Brothers called “Little Apple”. Its lyrics include, “You are my little dear little apple/I can never stop loving you”.

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)