The Prince George Citizen

China’s ‘Useless Edison’ thrives on quirky gadgets

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this tiny village outside Beijing, Geng shows off his inventions. There’s the meat cleaver turned hair comb. And there’s a tennis racket-size watermelon-slicer.

There’s the earthquake-proof noodle bowl that swings in its stand to allow the eater to continue slurping through seismic waves. There are the slippers made from metal nuts.

But Geng is most proud of his hammer bag. It’s a hollow steel mallet with a compartmen­t that slides out of the head. Perfect, he says, for storing your phone, keys and wallet. It has a strap so it can hang over the wearer’s shoulder.

“It’s very fashionabl­e,” he said, modeling his creation. “And if someone tries to steal your bag, you can just throw it at them.”

But Geng, who grew up making things in his family’s pump factory, is a special kind of Chinese entreprene­ur. He does not make money from his inventions. Well, not directly.

He makes a living through inadverten­tly hilarious videos – filmed with the Chinese beauty filters that make everyone look like an airbrushed star – in which he shows how he makes his inventions and then hams it up for the camera as he demonstrat­es how to use them.

With smoldering eyes, he combs his messy hair with the meat cleaver. He falls out of the slippers while trying to walk down a country road in them.

And he presents a motorbike with a seat that lifts up to reveal a squat toilet. Just turn the throttle to flush. (Luckily the video cuts out before Geng unzips his fly.)

He now has almost 2 million followers on the video site Kwai, and they give him mobile phone “tips” for his performanc­es – the internet equivalent of a busker getting cash dropped in a hat.

His biggest tippers get their names on plaques on the wall in his workshop, which is often the set for his videos.

Geng tries to come up with a new invention every week and to make videos two or three times a week. He makes about $150 every time he does a livestream­ed broadcast – decent money in a town where five people can have a lavish lunch for a total of $25. He makes enough to support his family – he and his wife have two children – and his brother, who shoots the videos.

Geng attributes his fame to China’s rapid industrial­ization, which has seen millions of people migrate from rural regions to small apartments in the big cities, where they work long days.

“Chinese people love inventions and inventing stuff, but because of economic developmen­t, most people don’t have the time to do it,” he said.

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