Then in early August, Feng announced he was leaving KPCB to start Erly.com, a social start-up with two former Hulu colleagues and backing from Kleiner.

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That, more than his off-hand remark about bad feng shui, is the reason he will not live or work in Government House, home to a dozen British governors.

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He declines, saying that it is good feng shui.

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Its president, Feng Jun, founded the company in 1993, when he sold keyboards, taking a profit of only five yuan (then around 90 cents) apiece to encourage distributors to sell lots of them.

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As for Yang Zhifa, now 61, he spends much of his time autographing souvenirs at Feng's store.

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Mr. Zhang said he hadn't been allowed to see Ms. Feng in the hospital and was unable to reach her or her husband by phone on Friday.

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Dr Michael Mak, from the University of Newcastle in Australia, studies how feng shui can be used in urban design and architecture from what he calls a scientific stand point.

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Zhang Feng, 47, made his money in fuel distribution in Shanghai and decided he didn't want to spend the rest of his life in the business.

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To do so, he had to pool savings of his parents and his in-laws, who plan to live with Feng and his wife.

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