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)

Marie Lou looks out of the window of gypsy folklore wagon on May 24, 2016 in Staintes Maries de la Mere near Arles, France. Gypsies from all over Europe worship “Sara the Black”, their Saint and patroness, for one week. Sara's statue is situated in the crypt of the church. She wears a multicoloured dress and will carried by the gypsies to the sea at this afternoon. (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)

A penitent flagellates himself during a Holy Week procession on April 21, 2011 in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Spain. The penitents called Los Picaos flagellate themselves during the Holy Week processions. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Revellers chase a bull into the sea during the “Bous a la Mar” festival on July 14, 2011 in Denia, Spain. The Spanish “Bous a la Mar” or “Bulls to the Sea” festival is held in honour of the Santisima Sangre and commemorate a monk named Pedro Esteve, who, as the legend has it, saved the coastal town of Denia from a plague in 1633. The bulls chased into the sea are later brought back to land by small boats. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Gianluca Pardelli is something of an expert on markets. For the past two years, he’s travelled across eastern Europe, from Azerbaijan to Uzbekistan, Moldova to Georgia, photographing them. Here: Telavi, Georgia. (Photo by Gianluca Pardelli)

Reveller Jacqueline Fernandez looks on in the rain during the 26th Annual Kensington Market Winter Solstice Parade in Toronto, Canada, December 21, 2015. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Reuters)

A fishmonger prepares fresh festive seafood supplies at the Sydney Seafood Market on December 23, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. The annual 36-hour seafood marathon commenced today with thousands of Sydney shoppers expected to flock to the Sydney Seafood Market to find the freshest possible seafood catch for Christmas Day feasts. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)