Stock Downturn Hits Chinese Investors in the Heart, Not Just the Wallet
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Stock investors playing cards at a brokerage house in Beijing. CreditGilles Sabrie for The New York Times
HONG KONG — Farmers turned village community centers into makeshift trading floors. Young workers quit low-paying jobs to play the market full time. Retirees started investment clubs, counseling one another on stock picks.
China fell under the spell of the stock market over the last year, as millions of factory owners, university students, wheat growers and other investors jumped at a chance to strike it rich.
“When we eat breakfast, we think of the stock market. When we sleep, we see flashing red and green screens,” said Elizabeth Xu, 37, a customer service supervisor at an electronics company in Shanghai, who invested $2,500 last fall. “This is our new sport.”…
Stock Downturn Hits Chinese Investors in the Heart, Not Just the Wallet
