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)

Fireworks explode over Elizabeth Tower housing the Big Ben clock in London. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press)

An x-ray of a woman drinking, taken by British artist and photographer Hugh Turvey in London, England. (Photo by Hugh Turvey/SPL/Barcroft Media)

General view of the stands in the Atrium during the Big Fashion Wardrobe Spring/Summer fashion and beauty event at Westfield London shopping centre on March 29, 2011 in London, United Kingdom.

A young girl navigates her way around Hampton Court maze in the spring sunshine on May 2, 2009 in London, England. The Hampton Court maze is one of the most famous hedge mazes in the world and was planted between 1689 and 1695 by George London and Henry Wise. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A devotee of the Hare Krishna faith poses for a photograph during the festival of Rathayatra on June 12, 2011 in London, England. Rathayatra, or Chariot festival, features three huge, wooden chariots pulled by hand across Central London accompanied by constant singing, chanting, drums, cymbals and dancing. (Photo by Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images)

British born leading lady Elizabeth Taylor feeds the pigeons in Trafalgar Square, London. (Photo by Chris Ware/Keystone/Getty Images). November 1948

A marcher dressed as Marilyn Monroe during the annual Gay Pride march in London, July 1994. (Photo by Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)