Other addicts include a man who lost his savings of 100,000 yuan and a retired worker who lost all interest in her family and keeping house and spends all her time working out permutations of seven numbers. White-collar people do not buy the tickets. Maybe it is because they have other ways to make a lot of money, while the poor do not. Residents offer several explanations for the craze. Life is not as hard as elsewhere.
People love to gamble.
We have been busy trading stocks for the past 10 years and turnover is high. Keen interest by local newspapers and television, which report every move in the lottery, also stokes public enthusiasm. Poverty is another reason. As the provincial capital and centre of a rich farming area, Chengdu is the most prosperous city in Sichuan but lags behind Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai and the rich cities of the east. For thousands of laid-off workers, day labourers and retired people, the lottery offers the only hope of an escape from poverty.