For some, war offers opportunities like for Liu Lei, co-author of the recently-published "Making a Fortune at the Foot of the God of Death."

Making a Fortune at the Foot of the God of Death

In mid-2003, the resident of Shenzhen, in South China's Guangdong Province, chucked his job of three years in the IT industry to find his fortune in Iraq where the Saddam Hussein regime had just collapsed.

Liu had a comfortable job but he was approaching 30 and did not want to slave for someone; so with US$3,700 in his pocket and hope in his heart he set off for Baghdad.
He opened a Chinese restaurant right opposite the five-star Sheraton hotel where many foreign journalists and officials were ensconced and who clearly liked his food.

The restaurant had a good start but for once in the hospitality industry, the old maxim  location  did not prove auspicious.

The crowds of foreigners in the area had become a target of car bombs. After each explosion, the US soldiers would clear out all the foreigners.

The tragedy was that almost every month, there was one bomb. So after four months, Liu called it quits after suffering a loss of US$2,200.

With only US$1,500 left, Liu began scouting for a safer location  and there was none better than the heavily-fortified Green Zone, home to the central government and about 15,000 US forces.

The problem was getting in. He first tempted one of the guards with a colourfully-illustrated magazine article on Chinese food  and promised him he would bring the real thing the next day.

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