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 family wearing traditional Japanese clothing posed for a photograph during spring season in one of the garden in Kiyomizu dera, Kyoto prefecture, Japan on March 30, 2018. (Photo by Richard Atrero de Guzman/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A hand of a devotee is pictured as she rings a bell while offering prayers to the chariot of God Bhairab during the Bisket festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal, April 13, 2016. During the festival, also regarded as Nepalese New Year, images of the Hindu god Bhairava and his female counterpart Bhadrakali are enshrined in two large chariots and pulled to an open square after which rituals and festivities are performed. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A “caixer” (horse rider) rears up on his horse surrounded by a cheering crowd during the traditional “Jaleo” at the Sant Antoni Festival in Es Castell, Balearic Islands, Spain on July 27, 2019. (Photo by Matthias Oesterle/Zuma Press/Picturedesk.com)

A Naga Sadhu or Hindu holy man adjusts the beads around his neck ahead of the first Shahi Snan at “Kumbh Mela” or the Pitcher Festival, in Haridwar, India, March 10, 2021. (Photo by Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters)

Hindu pilgrims walk along a mountain path as they make their pilgrimage to the sacred Amarnath Cave, one of the most revered Hindu shrines, near Baltal, Kashmir, India. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak)

French model Iris Mittenaere attends the screening of “Final Cut (Coupez!)” and opening ceremony red carpet for the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2022 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Stephane Mahe/Reuters)

A devotee holds incense sticks while celebrating the Sindoor Jatra Festival on April 15, 2015 in Thimi, Nepal. Sindoor Jatra Festival is celebrated each year in Thimi, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, to welcome the Nepali New Year and celebrate the coming of spring. During the Festival, devotees are smeared with vermillion powder and 30 chariots containing the images of several gods and goddesses are carrying by the devotees around the town, while others sing, dance and play musical instruments. (Photo by Omar Havana/Getty Images)