China’s beloved ‘Useless Edison’, rumored to be retired, continues to create bizarre gadgets

Rumor has it that an inventor in rural China, commonly known as the country’s “useless Edison,” has retired because he “made too much money” and disappeared from social media for five months.

Shougong Geng, aka Handy Geng, denied the rumor on October 21, saying he was only “dissatisfied” with the things he made and promising to release videos soon.

The 36-year-old was known by his real name Geng Shuai for the first three decades of his life.

After leaving school at the age of 16, he left his village in northern China’s Hebei province and became a migrant worker in Beijing.

Geng worked on construction sites, repaired houses, sold mobile phones and welded rails for the Beijing-Shijiazhuang high-speed railway.

He learned welding techniques from his father, a blacksmith, who believed that his children should have a permanent job.