Andy Swan “Zippy the Clown” from Sacramento, California, drives his “elelphant” car during a break at the 2011 Clowns of America International Convention on April 15, 2011 in Anaheim, California. Several hundred clowns, from all over the United States and from as far as Puerto Rico and Germany, are attending the convention to compete in skits and hone their skills in the art of balloon-making and face-painting. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Bonhams expert Michaela Vergottis holds a yellow Jade Chinese Imperial Sceptre on May 9, 2011 in London, England. The piece which is thought to have been taken by British Troups during the Boxer Rebellion is expected to fetch between £800,000 – 1.2 M GBP when it goes on sale at the “Chinese Art” sale at Bonham's auction house on May 12, 2011. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Newly commissioned 2nd lieutenants throw their caps in the air as a team of F-16 Air Force Thunderbirds fly over the 2011 graduating class of the U.S. Air Force Academy on May 25, 2011 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A total of 1,021 graduates received their diplomas in front of their families and dignitaries at the Academy's Falcon Stadium. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

The sun shines on Weston-super-Mare's Sand Sculpture Festival and the sand art currently being displayed on July 4, 2011 in Weston-Super-Mare, England. Now in its fourth year and with a Amazon Jungle theme for 2011, the seaside resort's event attracts top sand sculptors from across the world and runs throughout the summer months. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

A woman views the Mummy of Meresamun in the Ashmolean Museum's new exhibition of artifacts from ancient Egypt and Nubia on November 23, 2011 in Oxford, England. The new gallery is displaying for the first time in decades some of the finest Egyptian and Nubian artifacts in the UK. The Egyptian collection opens to the public from November 26, 2011. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

A man flies a kite made of 110 Tukkal or paper lanterns for the Hindu festival of “Makar Sankranti”, which marks the start of spring, in Ahmedabad January 13, 2011. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A woman surveys the damage after the earthquake on March 17, 2011 in Kensennuma, Japan. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

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)