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)

Nick Franklin, in action during the FMX competition at the 23rd edition of Free4Style this Saturday, July 2, 2016 in Estavayer-le-Lac,Switzerland. (Photo by Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone/APA)

Vietnamese model Ngoc Trinh poses as she arrives for the screening of the film “A Hidden Life” at the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 19, 2019. (Photo by The Mega Agency)

British actress Iris Law arrives for the screening of the film “Forever Young (Les Amandiers)” at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 22, 2022. (Photo by Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters)

Some 1200 windsurfers take the start of the 21th edition of the Defi Wind in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Gruissan in southern France, on May 19, 2023. (Photo by Charly Triballeau/AFP Photo)

Swedish actress Alicia Vikander poses during a photocall for the film “Firebrand” at the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 22, 2023. (Photo by Joel C. Ryan/Invision/AP Photo)

Japanese actress Aoi Yamada poses during a photocall for the film “Perfect Days” during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 26, 2023. (Photo by Valery Hache/AFP Photo)

Sabine Marcelis stands beside her project “RA” during The Edition III at Pyramids of Giza, in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt on October 26, 2023. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)