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)

Dog Xiaoniu dressed in clothes walks across a street with its owner (not pictured) in Shanghai, December 19, 2014. According to local media, Xiaoniu accompanies its owner to the food market everyday and is able to walk with its hind legs for up to about an hour. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

People try to get a roast chicken at the first Costco outlet in China, on the stores opening day in Shanghai on August 27, 2019. China has proved a brutal battleground for overseas food retailers in recent years, with many failing to understand consumer habits and tastes as well as local competitors building a stronger presence. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

A person dressed as “bigfoot” makes their way through the strong wind and snow in the Back Bay neighborhood during a blizzard on January 27, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Kayana Szymczak/Getty Images)

Bjorn, aged 5, smiles as he poses with a Owl butterfly during an event to launch the Sensational Butterflies exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London, Britain March 23, 2016. The exhibition opens to the public on March 24 and runs until September 11. (Photo by Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

A large teddy bear, used to enforce social distancing, is pictured sitting at a cafe in Pristina on July 23, 2020, as Kosovo authorities announce new measures to fight against the resurgence of the COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)

Indian dancers perform a fire breathing act during a procession to mark the 661st anniversary of the birth of Hindu guru Bawa Lal Dayal Maharaj in Amritsar on February 9, 2016. Bawa Lal Dayal Maharaj, a popular leader of his time, is especially revered by devotees of a temple in the town of Dhyanpur, some 45 kms north of Amritsar. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

A Thai visitor appears to be frightened by a life-size Velociraptor model also known as Raptor at the Dinosaur Planet theme park in Bangkok, Thailand, 25 March 2016. The 500 million baht (14 million US dollars or 12 million euro) theme park opening in the Thai capital aimed to attract more than 15,000 visitors a day featuring a chance to experience more than 200 dinosaurs from various species that are brought back to life. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)