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)

Train attendants attend an etiquette trainning as the May Day holiday approaches on April 26, 2022 in Chongqing, China. (Photo by Su Zhigang/VCG via Getty Images)

A visitor poses for pictures at the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China on January 5, 2025. (Photo by Xiaoyu Yin/Reuters)

Giant pandas are playing and foraging inside the Shenshuping base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong National Nature Reserve on November 3, 2021 in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province of China. (Photo by An Yuan/China News Service via Getty Images)

The Heavens opened as students from Wells Blue school year 13 pupils arrived at The Bishop's Palace in Wells, Somerset on June 30, 2022 for their end of year school prom. (Photo by Jason Bryant/Apex News)

Couples take part in a competition during a mass wedding of 64 doctoral student couples at Harbin Institute of Technology, a university in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China, June 4, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A professional training in explosive disposal is held in Nanning, Guangxi, China on 18th February, 2021. (Photo by Top Photo Corporation/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Mothers-to-be show their belly paintings in Hefei, east China's Anhui province on May 8, 2020. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock/China Stringer Network)