QUOTE
Buddhist monks, pensioners, and housewives are flocking to take part in China's biggest stir-fry - local slang for the new national sport of speculating in the stock market.
Easy money? People queue to open accounts at a stock exchange in Suining south-western China
An investment frenzy triggered by China's economic growth and eccentricities in its unique communist-capitalist financial system have led to an explosion in share prices.
This week, the Shanghai stock exchange index hit the 4,000 mark - just three weeks after passing 3,000 and up more than three times from a low of 1,200 less than two years ago.
Frantic government warnings that it is a bubble waiting to burst have not scared off small investors.
"All the other chefs at my restaurant have put money in," said Yang Dachao, 32, a cook who has just "stir-fried" his £5,000 savings into an account at one of Beijing's high street securities shops. "I sat on the fence when the market hit 3,000. When it hit 4,000 I had to get in."
Easy money? People queue to open accounts at a stock exchange in Suining south-western China
An investment frenzy triggered by China's economic growth and eccentricities in its unique communist-capitalist financial system have led to an explosion in share prices.
This week, the Shanghai stock exchange index hit the 4,000 mark - just three weeks after passing 3,000 and up more than three times from a low of 1,200 less than two years ago.
Frantic government warnings that it is a bubble waiting to burst have not scared off small investors.
"All the other chefs at my restaurant have put money in," said Yang Dachao, 32, a cook who has just "stir-fried" his £5,000 savings into an account at one of Beijing's high street securities shops. "I sat on the fence when the market hit 3,000. When it hit 4,000 I had to get in."
Well my Local Takeaway owner says he has invested thousands in the Shanghai SM.
Shanghai 'stir-fry' frenzy could be recipe for disaster