Self-proclaimed qigong master Wang Lin lived a luxurious life away from the public eye for two decades, but pictures of him receiving celebrities at his home in east China’s Jiangxi Province have changed that.

Wang Lin kissed a girl?goodbye.

Since the photos popped up online earlier this month, video clips of Wang resurrecting beheaded snakes, recovering paper from ashes and shredding steel with his bare hands have circulated online.

Alongside these outrageous feats, stories of him allegedly “curing” people of illnesses in exchange for large sums of money have also surfaced.

Wide media coverage of his so-called “supernatural powers” have drawn skepticism from scientists and the general public.

Wang Lin told Beijing News on July 22 that US intelligence agencies offered him 70 green cards to try to persuade him to emigrate, but he turned them down because of his attachment to China.

When Sima Nan, an online celebrity famous for debunking pseudoscientific claims, asked Wang whether his “miracles” were achieved through qigong mastery were magic tricks, Wang became furious and said he could kill Sima with his fingers from just a few meters away.

Wang told the Beijing News that he has cured many patients, including former Indonesian President Suharto (1921-2008).The public consensus is that Wang is using magic, not telekinesis or super powers.

Super trick?

“He knew some tricks to produce cigarettes and wine from thin air, but that was only magic,” said a man who worked with Wang on a farm in Yifeng County for more than 10 years. “I never heard of him curing disease.”

According to the person in charge of the farm, Wang served prison terms in the 1970s for sexual harassment. Wang declined to respond to the claim.

Wang lives in a five-story villa in Luxi County. With three Hummers and a Rolls-Royce parked in the yard, he is known as the county’s richest person.

Wang was a no-show in court on Tuesday, when his trial over a property dispute with a former disciple opened in Nanchang City, capital of Jiangxi.

The Jiangxi Provincial Higher People’s Court began hearing the case in which Zou Yong, a businessman who acknowledged Wang as his master before November 2012, is suing Wang over a housing contract dispute involving more than 30 million yuan (US$4.8 million). The trial opened a day after authorities in Jiangxi’s city of Pingxiang, Wang’s hometown, opened an investigation into Wang’s alleged illegal medical practices.

China Central Television on Sunday broadcast an investigative report on Wang, describing him as a swindler who made his fortune by fooling celebrities and government officials.

Prior to the trial, Zou, chairman of the Pingxiang-based Jiangxi Tianyu Fuel Group, said he paid 5 million yuan to become Wang’s disciple in 2009, but Wang did not teach him ways to master qigong.

Wang said he never fooled people into giving him money.

Quack doctors

Cases like Wang’s are not that unusual, as people claim to have the power to cure illnesses from time to time.

In 2010, Zhang Wuben, a self-proclaimed nutritionist, became a guru overnight through his food therapy forums on a television program. His hallmark theory held that mung beans could be a panacea and his book, “Eat Out the Diseases You Have Eaten,” became a best-seller.

Zhang’s medical qualifications were later exposed as false and his theories have been debunked, as followers failed to find a cure to their diseases through expensive consultations with Zhang.

In 2011, Ma Yueling, once considered the “Health Godmother” in China, claimed that she cured diseases ranging from cancer to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) through a variety of unorthodox treatments. It later came to light that Ma was a nurse without the necessary certifications or qualifications to prescribe treatments.

(Xinhua. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)