The 23th Shaanxi Province Youth Science & Technology Invention contest kicked off in Xi'an, the capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Saturday. In the contest, a pair of "easy chopsticks" invented by a seven-year old girl He Jiayi attracted a lot of attention, Hsw.cn reports.

The little inventor He Jiayi explained that with help from her grandpa, she drilled holes in each chopstick and fixed a 2 cm long spring through the two holes to attach the two chopsticks together. She believes that with such chopsticks, foreigners can enjoy Xi'an's local noodles with more ease.

A seven-year old Chinese girl He Jiayi (front) and a nine-year old Chinese boy Ai Lun (rear) show their inventions - "easy chopsticks" and "slip-proof shoes" in an invention contest in Xi'an, capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Saturday, April 19, 2008.

Another invention, a drip-proof water faucet, was invented by Liang Shida and Zhu Haitian, students in second year high school. The invention has proved to be very useful in saving water.

Some judges of this invention contest said the works in the exhibition were selected from more than 1,500 schools by 0.7 million people in the province. The committee hopes the contest can nurture more and more science and technology talents.

(CRI April 22, 2008)