Entrepreneurs cash in on virtual gold rush

The fact that China has more Internet users than anywhere else in the world may be just another one of those statistical records that prompt cynics to ask: so what?

But to budding entrepreneurs like Han Ruotong of Beijing, the growing Internet population in China holds the promise of a gold mine. The 30-year-old former advertising executive quit her well-paying job several years ago to concentrate on her online pet shop. Instead of cats and dogs, her shop specializes in more exotic species, like Angora rabbits and chinchillas - a rabbit-sized rodent native to the Andes in South America.

Although Han, sharing her tight 14 sq m office with a dozen or so jittery animals in cages, has yet to hit the Internet jackpot, she has no regrets. "I know I made the right choice," she said. "I've always wanted to own a business."