Inside Jack Ma's former home

In 1999 Jack Ma was living in a small apartment with his wife in Hangzhou, China, when he came up with the idea for Alibaba.

That little idea, of course, evolved into one of the biggest tech companies on the planet and made Ma a billionaire many times over.
Just like the garages where Hewlett-Packard, Apple and Google were started, the apartment in Hangzhou is now a shrine—another sacred spot in the tech world.

People frequently journey to the site to see if they can sneak a peek, or perhaps set foot inside.

When CNBC was given an exclusive tour last week, a South Korean journalist was lurking about trying to get past an Alibaba tour guide/protector.

But there is one major difference between Jack's place and all of those garages that are now protected by historical societies and have been turned into museums: Jack Ma's apartment is very much a working shrine. No dust is being collected there. (Read More)