Liu Ruopeng, courtesy of Guangzhou Daily

Liu did his PhD at Duke University and has co-authored a book on meta-materials, the technology that is expected to be key to making this happen. Guangzhou Metro has said it is in the early stages of applying Liu’s knowledge to introduce free Wi-Fi and will try to make it available as soon as possible. The metro company was decidedly less bullish in tone than Liu himself.

Liu’s institute was visited by Xi Jinping on his southern tour last year. His report, ‘The Creation and Development of Industrial Grade Meta-material Technology,’ claims that meta-materials can be used to introduce free Wi-Fi. But even if free Wi-Fi is successfully brought to Guangzhou’s subway passengers, it would be far from the most exciting thing Liu has ever worked on.

According to this 2009 report, Liu has been at the forefront of the race to create the world’s first invisibility cloak. This technology would have obvious military applications, and it is something that even Hogwarts would struggle to match.