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)

“Strike Through The Mothership”. Every May for the last 3 years I have driven down to Tornado Alley to capture some amazing storms. This supercell held so much promise to drop a tornado but one small shift in the atmosphere and all that it produced was an extreme lightning show. Photo location: Broken Bow, Nebraska. (Photo and caption by Vanessa Neufeld/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Asaro from the Eastern Highlands”. The mudmen could not cover their faces with mud because the people of Papua New Guinea thought that the mud from the Asaro river was poisonous. So instead of covering their faces with this alleged poison, they made masks from pebbles that they heated and water from the waterfall, with unusual designs such as long or very short ears either going down to the chin or sticking up at the top, long joined eyebrows attached to the top of the ears, horns and sideways mouths. (Photo and caption by Jimmy Nelson)

Emily Ratajkowski is seen at “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on August 07, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A Los Angeles County Fire helicopter flies over during the “Skirball Fire” which began early morning in Bel-Air, California, USA, 06 December 2017. An outbreak of several fires North of Los Angeles has occurred as one of the strongest Santa Ana winds forecast of the season is ongoing and expected to last several days. (Photo by John Cetrino/EPA/EFE)

Elizabeth Hurley (L) and Nicole Scherzinger serve dinner at the BOVET 1822 Brilliant is Beautiful Gala benefitting Artists for Peace and Justice's Global Education Fund for Women and Girls at Claridge's Hotel on December 1, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Undercover Israeli police arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during clashes following protests against U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, December 13, 2017. (Photo by Nasser Shiyoukhi/AP Photo)

Children try to push an injured and weak dolphin back into the water after it washed ashore during bad weather and high tide on a beach in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia August 12, 2016 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Idhad Zakaria/Reuters/Antara Foto)