Chinese boy, 11, takes DIY go-kart for a spin after busy school holiday
While his friends were taking extra classes over the long summer break, budding inventor read up online and got to work
While his classmates have been taking extra lessons over the long summer holiday, an 11-year-old boy in eastern China has been busy with his own project – building a go-kart – and he’s caught the attention of local media.
After spending all of July assembling his DIY vehicle, it was time for Xiao Zijin to put on his helmet, gloves and sunglasses and finally take it for a spin this week in a park in Quzhou, Zhejiang province.
That’s according to a Zhejiang News report on Tuesday, which said the budding inventor researched the whole process online, spending 620 yuan (US$90) on wires and other parts, and using some components from an old electric bike.
But he said he had problems getting the steering right, and he nearly gave up on the project because of it. “I spent about four hours working on it every day. The rest of the time I was reading up online, trying to research and problem solve,” Zijin told the newspaper. “I watched the videos over and over again and eventually I solved it.”
He did have some motivation to finish the project – his parents, wanting to encourage him, said he could only do it if he didn’t just give up halfway.
“His school results last semester were quite satisfactory, so we felt this wouldn’t affect his studies,” Zijin’s mother, Xu Yingmi, was quoted as saying.
