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)

Children play on top of an old plane's fuselage at a dump site in Paranaque city, Metro Manila, Philippines January 21, 2017. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Reuters)

Actress and model Charlotte McKinney attends the grand opening of NightSwim at Encore Beach Club at Wynn Las Vegas on May 5, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for Wynn Las Vegas)

People dance Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in Baltimore. Maryland's governor vowed there would be no repeat of the looting, arson and vandalism that erupted Monday in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods. (Photo by Matt Rourke/AP Photo)

Model Ashley Graham is seen walking in Soho on May 9, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images)

Nacho Libre wrestlers perform during the Lucha Vavoom “Valentines Day” show at the Mayan Theatre, California, on February 12, 2020. Lucha Vavoom combines Mexican Nacho Libre wrestling with cabaret and burlesque acts to make a uniquely Los Angeles variety show. (Photo by Mark Ralston/AFP Photo)

Actress Lily Collins is seen filming on set of series 2 of “Emily In Paris” on May 4, 2021 in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France. (Photo by Arnold Jerocki/GC Images)

This photograph taken during a government organised media tour shows people in traditional costume standing in Potala Palace Square as the Potala Palace – classified as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1994 – is seen in the background in the regional capital Lhasa, in China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on June 1, 2021. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)