Clever or con? Young China merchant sells 70,000 virtual ‘Einstein brains’ online to university students seeking advice, ‘spiritual nourishment’

Entrepreneur uses name of famous physicist to sell advice to customers. Online chat product claims to ‘grow on your brain’, splits opinion online. — SCMP

A 22-year-old man in China, whose virtual service has sold about 70,000 units on Taobao ecommerce platform this year, has caused much intrigue on mainland social media.

Zhang Jiangxi, from Hebei province in northern China, has created a resource called “Einstein’s Brain” where he answers people’s questions and provides “emotional comfort and spiritual nourishment” for 0.50 yuan (33sen) a time.