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 couple embraces at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, July 10, 2016. (Photo by Eloy Alonso/Reuters)

Supporters react as U.S. President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to the White House in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2019. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Reuters)

Models walk the runway at the Maria Escote show during Madrid Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2015/16 at Ifema on February 10, 2015 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

A woman throws water at passing motorists during celebrations for the Thingyan festival, also known as the Buddhist New Year, in Naypyidaw, Myanmar on April 16, 2019. (Photo by Thet Aung/AFP Photo)

This aerial photograph taken on April 22, 2024 shows a flooded island after heavy rains in Qingyuan, in southern China's Guangdong province. More than 100,000 people have been evacuated due to heavy rain and fatal floods in southern China, with the government issuing its highest-level rainstorm warning for the affected area on April 23. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

Soccer fans wearing Argentina's football team jersey arrive at workers' stadium to watch a friendly match between Australia and Argentina in Beijing on June 15, 2023. (Photo by Jade Gao/AFP Photo)

Primary school students write Chinese character “Ren”, meaning “human being”, during the First Writing Ceremony, a traditional education activity, on September 6, 2023 in Qingdao, Shandong Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)