Colombian-Spanish actress Juana Acosta attends the Fotogramas Awards 2012 at Joy Eslava Club on March 12, 2012 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

A face mask discarded in a forest in the Taunus region near Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, October 18, 2020. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Masks based on real people's faces are diplayed at the Shuhei Okawara's mask shop in Tokyo, Japan on December 16, 2020. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)

A pro-democracy protester wears a hat in the shape of a yellow rubber duck, which has become a recent symbol for the ongoing protests, during an anti-government rally in Bangkok on November 22, 2020. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP Photo)

Models wait backstage before the Heaven Gaia Autumn/Winter 2021 collection show by Xiong Ying during China Fashion Week in Beijing, China on March 25, 2021. (Photo by Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

A woman wearing face mask leaves a restaurant decorated with skeletons for the upcoming Halloween party, in Kiev, on October 26, 2021. Ukraine whose public health service is under-resourced reported that 734 coronavirus deaths in last 24 hours, the highest figure since the beginning of the pandemic. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP Photo)

An installation with a copy of a tank is seen at a villager's house in the village of Vits, Belarus November 8, 2016. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/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)