Career Cut Short by Mystery Disease, Former U.S. Diplomat to China Turns to Internet for Economic Survival

Rocked by an unknown disease that nearly cost him his life and left him unable to carry on in the traditional workplace, former diplomat Arthur Marquardt is counting on his newly-launched online business to carry him through hard times. Following an ensuing series of debilitating and life-threatening illnesses, Marquardt has decided to apply his love and familiarity with things Chinese" to create an online business to market imported Chinese arts and crafts, including a wide variety of fengshui items and Buddha statues. His newly-formed company, LaoMa Enterprises, LLC, in May, launched the LaoMa Fengshui Shop to provide customers the world over with convenient access to top-quality and often hard-to-find items imported weekly from some of Chinas most out-of-the-way places. The website address is: www.laomafengshuishop.com

Jerome, MI (PRWEB) July 23, 2005 -- In August, 2003, Arthur Marquardt, serving as a diplomat attached to the United States Embassy in Beijing, China, suddenly found himself bed-ridden and fighting for his life in the local VIP hospital in the Chinese capital, the victim of a mystery disease that continues to confound medical experts. Initially stricken with advanced acute kidney failure, Marquardt, who ironically had been one of the embassys key SARS reporters the previous Spring, was flown back to the United States in a virtual race against the clock for emergency treatment, While the kidney failure eventually loosened its grip after a series of emergency dialysis treatments, a series of related and equally debilitating illnesses ensued, leaving the former diplomat unable to return to his former position at the embassy.

Now, nearly two years and three major surgeries later, Marquardt sits in his small Jerome, Michigan lake home trying to find a way to create a new source of income. This past Winter, between hospital stays, he founded LaoMa Enterprises, LLC and decided to put his love and knowledge of Chinese culture to work by launching a new online business this past May, called LaoMa Fengshui Shop. This unusual online store provides customers with convenient access to freshly-imported and often rare cultural pieces from some of Chinas more off-the-beaten-path areas and Hong Kong, with special emphasis on Fengshui items and Buddha statues, along with an extensive assortment of Chinese arts and crafts.

While Marquardt continues to struggle with the continuing legacy of his August, 2003 mystery disease, he remains unapologetically optimistic over what he sees as the great potential of the Internet to provide serious entrepreneurs with a golden opportunity to earn a healthy living online. Recalling a lesson from a long-ago Chinese language class, Marquardt noted that the makeup of the Chinese character for crisis" contains two distinct components-one part is the character used for danger," while the other part contains the character for opportunity," and is convinced that the fast-emerging world of online business is todays new frontier of endless opportunity.

Website: www.laomafengshuishop.com

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