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)

The three pals dressed to the nines enjoyed a boozy night out in Leeds, United Kingdom on August 27, 2021. Boozed-up Brits flocked to bars across the country to enjoy the start of the three-day break. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

Indian actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas, American actress Anne Hathaway and American actress and singer Zendaya attend the “Bulgari Mediterranea High Jewelry” event at Palazzo Ducale on May 16, 2023 in Venice. (Photo by Pietro S. D'Aprano/Getty Images for Bulgari)

Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, compete in the team ice dance program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Jeff Roberson/AP Photo)

“Artist Paula Swisher has come up with a quirky way of lessening the stress of household bills - by doodling highly intricate birds on each one. Swisher, 37, has drawn hundreds of birds in her lifetime and puts her love of ornithology down to the nature walks she went on as a youngster. Looking for work during the recession, she began sketching birds on the inside of books, seeing the practice as a creative way to mutate the pages into something fresh. But now she's made the transition from books to bills – while admittedly making a playful commentary on the predatory banking businesses”. – Caters News. (Photo by Paula Swisher/Caters News)

An Afghan vendor selling birds to be kept as pets wait for customers in his shop in Kabul on December 11, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP Photo)

Charlotte Louise, Travis Wood and Dylan Collymore in Pinocchio at Theatre Royal Stratford East, London in 2024. (Photo by Tristram Kenton/The Guardian)

Dancers pose after performing “El Macho Raton”, “El Toro Huaco” and “El Gueguense” traditional dances during San Sebastian festivity in Diriamba, province of Carazo, some 50 km south of Managua on January 19, 2016. Devotees of Saint Sebastian dance in traditional costumes between the cities of Diriamba and Dolores, which are some three kilometers away. (Photo by Inti Ocon/AFP Photo)