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)

Cast members from “Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil” perform during the 2017 Miss USA pageant at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on May 14, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

A model poses during the fashion show on May 23, 2019 during the amfAR 26th Annual Cinema Against AIDS gala at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, southern France, on the sidelines of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

Sabrina Crespo da Silva removes electrical tape from a client at her Sabrina Bronze rooftop salon, where she offers the service of taping on bikini tops which create crisp tan lines, in the Turano favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, January 27, 2022. Even though beaches reopened amid the COVID-19 pandemic, some clients using Sabrina's rooftop service say they are still anxious about returning to the crowded seashore and potentially catching the virus. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

Antonina Petkovic walks the runway during the Jean Paul Gaultier Spring Summer 2016 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 27, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Members of Les Gonfles dance company Didier Theron begin their performance in the district of La Paillade, Montpellier, France on July 28, 2020. (Photo by Guillaume Bonnefont/ZUMA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

American rapper Saweetie performs at the European MTV Awards in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, November 14, 2021. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP Photo)

English actress Florence Pugh poses for photographers upon arrival at the 76th British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA's, in London, Sunday, February 19, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP Photo)