Lottery games are very popular in Asia, where a belief in luck, fate and karma permeates everyday life. Many people play for pure fun but some have a definite purpose in mind. Whether they’re trying to cure cancer or win the big jackpot, lottery games offer hope and inspiration.

In April, sales of Chinese lottery tickets jumped to their highest level in more than a decade. Young Chinese are particularly keen to try their luck as they brace for tougher economic conditions due to COVID-19 curbs and a growing youth jobless rate.

The winning numbers in a Chinese lottery are usually derived from the birth dates of the player’s family members. A man in Hangzhou combined the birth dates of his wife and three children to come up with a winning combination, which was 77 million yuan. This is the second largest prize ever won by a single person in China.

While lottery games are a big part of the Asian gambling industry, they’re not without their drawbacks. A number of scandals have highlighted the potential for corruption in government-sanctioned lotteries, with local officials siphoning a total of 17 billion yuan from ticket sales over the last few years.

A lottery stand employee surnamed Chen tells Sixth Tone that her own stand is in a shopping mall frequented by young people, who come in the evening to purchase scratch cards and sports lottery tickets. She believes the recent boom in sales is partly a result of China’s tough economic climate.